JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Seven years ago, Rocky Miller’s teenage daughter was contemplating an abortion. She was living with her mother, divorced from Miller. She didn’t have to call him, legally at least, but she told him about the situation and they discussed it. She decided to keep the baby.
This was the inspiration for House Bill 1192, which Miller, R-Osage Beach, sponsored. The bill came before the Health Care Policy committee on Tuesday.
Currently, only one adult guardian is required to approve the abortion for a minor. HB 1192 requires that all parents or guardians be notified through mail at their last known address within five days before an abortion may be performed.
Several witnesses provided testimony for and against the bill.
Missouri ACLU Director Jeffrey A. Mittman and Felicia Scott, a pastor for St. Jordan’s United Church of Christ, championed the case against the bill. Scott argued that the bill is merely an attempt to restrict women’s rights, saying that many minors in this situation may not have any guardians available to help with the decision.
“We see it as more attempts to control young women,” Scott said.
The case for the bill, argued by Missouri Right to Life representatives, included the psychological toll abortions have and that having two guardians involved would help minors who chose to get abortions.
The committee also heard House Bills 1307 and 1313, identical bills that increase the mandatory waiting period for abortions from 24 hours to 72 hours.
Committee chairman and one of the sponsors of the waiting-period bills, Keith Frederick, R-Rolla, compared the extended waiting period to procedures often used in serious knee surgeries — doctors giving patients time to think on all the different information about a procedure.
Committee member Sharon Pace, D-Florissant, disagreed with that comparison.
“When you’re pregnant you have longer than 24 hours to think about it,” Pace said. “We have a lot of intelligent females and we have the Internet.”
Pace also pointed out that, were the bill to be passed, Missouri would be only the third state to impose a 72-hour waiting period, joining Utah and South Dakota. She said 26 states have mandatory waiting periods.
The committee took no official action on the bills.
