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Missouri Right to Life announces priority legislation

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Right to Life (MRL), the primary anti-abortion advocate in the state, released their priority legislation for the 2016 legislative session Friday.

The group has come out in support of two Senate bills and 11 House bills, four of which were written by Rep. Diane Franklin, R-Camdenton. Franklin filed legislation as chair of the House Children and Families Committee, which investigated Planned Parenthood after allegations came out that accused the organization of illegally trafficking fetal tissue.

Franklin
Franklin

Franklin’s four bills are all related to fetal tissue sale and donation; her first prohibits such actions, and her subsequent legislation on the topic provides whistleblower protections for those who work with aborted fetal remains, change the definition of “remains of a human fetus” and change the reporting and submission laws of the fetal tissue report sent to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Other bills supported by MRL include Sen. Bob Onder’s recommendations to alter regulations allowing abortion facilities acquire their ambulatory surgical center licences, Sen. David Sater’s prohibition on abortions carried out specifically on fetuses that may show signs of Down Syndrome, Rep. Rocky Miller’s bill which requires the parent consenting to an abortion of a minor notify any other custodial parent or guardian of the minor*, and Rep. Andrew Koenig’s “Abortion Ban for Sex Selection and Genetic Abnormalities Act of 2016,” which would prohibit an abortion solely due to the sex of the unborn child or a genetic abnormality diagnosis.

MRL also noted legislation they opposed, including bills from Reps. Stacey Newman, Kimberley Gardner, and Randy Dunn.

A full overview of their legislative agenda can be found on their website here.

* – Update 2:19 p.m.: Originally, the article stated that Miller’s bill would require two signatures of consent from each parent or guardian of a minor getting an abortion. This was due to a misreading of the bill’s text.