Missouri Laws 188.038 – Pregnant women, bias or discrimination against — findings of general ..
1. The general assembly of this state finds that:
(1) Removing vestiges of any past bias or discrimination against pregnant women, their partners, and their family members, including their unborn children, is an important task for those in the legal, medical, social services, and human services professions;
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 188.038
- Down Syndrome: the same meaning as defined in section 191. See Missouri Laws 188.015
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Physician: any person licensed to practice medicine in this state by the state board of registration for the healing arts. See Missouri Laws 188.015
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Unborn child: the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until birth and at every stage of its biological development, including the human conceptus, zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus. See Missouri Laws 188.015
(2) Ending any current bias or discrimination against pregnant women, their partners, and their family members, including their unborn children, is a legitimate purpose of government in order to guarantee that those who “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” can enjoy “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”;
(3) The historical relationship of bias or discrimination by some family planning programs and policies towards poor and minority populations, including, but not limited to, the nonconsensual sterilization of mentally ill, poor, minority, and immigrant women and other coercive family planning programs and policies, must be rejected;
(4) Among Missouri residents, the rate of black or African-American women who undergo abortions is significantly higher, about three and one-half* times higher, than the rate of white women who undergo abortions. Among Missouri residents, the rate of black or African-American women who undergo repeat abortions is significantly higher, about one and one-half* times higher, than the rate of white women who undergo repeat abortions;
(5) Performing or inducing an abortion because of the sex of the unborn child is repugnant to the values of equality of females and males and the same opportunities for girls and boys, and furthers a false mindset of female inferiority;
(6) Government has a legitimate interest in preventing the abortion of unborn children with Down Syndrome because it is a form of bias or disability discrimination and victimizes the disabled unborn child at his or her most vulnerable stage. Eliminating unborn children with Down Syndrome raises grave concerns for the lives of those who do live with disabilities. It sends a message of dwindling support for their unique challenges, fosters a false sense that disability is something that could have been avoidable, and is likely to increase the stigma associated with disability.
2. No person shall perform or induce an abortion on a woman if the person knows that the woman is seeking the abortion solely because of a prenatal diagnosis, test, or screening indicating Down Syndrome or the potential of Down Syndrome in an unborn child.
3. No person shall perform or induce an abortion on a woman if the person knows that the woman is seeking the abortion solely because of the sex or race of the unborn child.
4. Any physician or other person who performs or induces or attempts to perform or induce an abortion prohibited by this section shall be subject to all applicable civil penalties under this chapter including, but not limited to, sections 188.065 and 188.085.