Via a webcast on Wednesday afternoon, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson voiced his support for a restrictive abortion bill currently making its way through the Senate.
House Bill No. 126 would ban abortion after a heartbeat or brain activity is detected with no concessions for rape or incest, and the only exception in the case of a medical emergency. The general assembly found that this can occur as early as eight weeks, and that a child’s heart starts beating during the fifth week of gestational age. Those who violate the bill would be guilty of a class B felony.
Parson said thanks to leaders in the House and Senate, Missouri has the “opportunity to be one of the strongest pro-life states in the country.” He called upon senators to allow the issue to come up for a vote.
During the webcast, he said right-to-life issues are “not about politics, but about who we are and what we believe.”
He also brought attention to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe v.s. Wade, and said a “lot has changed” since.
“Science has changed our ability to detect a heartbeat, ultrasound technology alone has enhanced our ability to detect fetal heartbeats and observe movements in ways that were not present in 1973,” said Parson.
He said, in regards to the legislation, his “pro-life administration will not back down,” and that until the day that we "no longer have abortions in this country, I will never waiveR in the fight for life.”
Additionally, Parson claimed that Missouri recently hit an “all-time low” in the number of abortions performed in the state.
“We’ve gone from a high to more than 20,000 abortions in our state to now below 3,000, which is still too many,” said Parson.
Several lawmakers joined Parson in his office for the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, including Rep. Elijah Haahr, Rep. Nick Schroer, Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, and Sen. Bob Onder.