The Missouri House passed a bill Friday to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, a measure that comes amid a flurry of anti-abortion legislation in statehouses across the county as Republican lawmakers mount direct challenges to federal protections for the procedure. The bill now moves to the desk of Gov. If enacted, Missouri would become the fifth state this year to adopt such a policy, which would prohibit abortion at about eight weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. The only exceptions would be when the mother’s life is at risk, but not for cases of rape or incest. The bill follows another piece of abortion legislation from Alabama that was signed this week that went further — effectively banning abortion in the state.

Source: New York Times May 17, 2019 17:07 UTC