Missouri on the Verge of Becoming the Latest State to Protect Unborn Babies and Outlaw Abortion Once Heartbeat is Detected

In a victory for countless unborn babies, another state is defying the pro-abortion Left and Planned Parenthood as they try to push their extreme late-term abortion laws on our nation.

Missouri is on the verge of becoming the latest state to pass a Heartbeat Bill that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Missouri’s Senate passed the “Missouri Stands With the Unborn” bill by a resounding 24 to 10 early Thursday morning.

In a statement, state Sens. Dave Schatz and Caleb Rowden said: "Today the Missouri Senate passed one of the most pro-life bills in the United States: Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act.

"This comprehensive, life-affirming legislation prohibits abortions once a heartbeat has been detected, prohibits abortions when a baby is capable of feeling pain, and would outlaw abortion in Missouri upon the reversal of Roe v. Wade."

The Governor of Missouri promised to sign the legislation saying that it would make the state “one of the strongest pro-life states in the country.”

In making this bold choice to defend life, Missouri joins Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, and now Georgia who we told you just passed its own heartbeat bill into law, prohibiting abortions once a heartbeat is heard. For Georgia, this was a brave stand, as the state brings in considerable revenue from film and television productions, including Blockbusters like Jurassic World and the popular Netflix series Stranger Things.

A number of Hollywood elitists are now demanding production studios boycott Georgia, and pull their projects and the money that would have been pumped into the state along with them. No one can stop them from leaving, as Georgia rightfully decided, protecting innocent lives is not a choice – it is a moral obligation – and it is far more important than the movies.

Every state that votes for life is a tremendous step forward in our battle to save babies and decimate the taxpayer funded abortion machine, which is manipulating lawmakers to pass horrific abortion legislation to legalize late term abortions like we saw signed into law in New York this year.

The ACLJ is working tirelessly to stop extreme abortion legislation before it can become law. We recently appeared before a committee of Maryland state legislators to support two critical pro-life bills: one requiring meaningful informed consent for women considering abortion, and the other restricting abortions after 20 weeks– when babies are fully capable of suffering pain.

And we filed critical amicus briefs supporting the new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule to block millions of tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood or any other abortion providers. Planned Parenthood is suing, along with more than 20 pro-abortion states to challenging the rule that would strip it of Title X taxpayer funding. And we have filed amicus briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower court decisions striking down sensible pro-life laws in Indiana and Alabama.

We applaud Missouri’s Governor Mike Parson and State Senate for joining the fight to protect life. The heartbeat bill now moves to the Missouri House where it could see a vote this week.

The ACLJ has been intricately involved in many of these heartbeat bills nationwide, and will continue to defend them in court. We will support every state that moves to protect babies. Every baby deserves a chance at life, just as each of us was given, and we will not stop fighting until we protect that right, and we defund the tax dollar supported abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

UPDATE: The MO House has also just overwhelmingly passed this vital legislation, and now it moves to the governor's desk who is expected to sign it soon.

UPDATE 05.24.2019: The governor has just signed the legislation making Missouri the latest state to protect life as soon as a heartbeat is detected.