Dr. Iman Alsaden, the chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Great Plains, speaks during an event for an abortion-rights ballot petition in Kansas City on Feb. 6, 2024. Alsaden said Missouri’s abortion ban harms patients and providers. (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of conversations about voter-initiated efforts to restore abortion access across the country.
In Missouri, getting an abortion was difficult years before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Lawmakers enacted restrictions that put up hurdles to abortion care: Doctors at clinics had to get admitting privileges to nearby hospitals, and patients listened to state-mandated counseling that discouraged abortion, then waited 72 hours to get one. There were only 150 abortions performed in the state in 2021, Missouri Independent reported.
After the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022, Missouri became the first state to outlaw abortion. The ban did include an exception for medical emergencies , which doctors say is unclear and ill-defined, jeopardizing their patients’ health. The law carries penalties of 5 to 15 years in prison for doctors, along with medical license suspension.