In a major escalation in the conservative effort to limit abortion access, a proposed law would permit citizens to sue individuals who help Missouri residents get an abortion, even if they live outside the state, Politico reported on Monday.
The proposal was made as an increasing number of women across the United States look to have abortions outside their home states amid tightening access to the procedure.
It also comes as part of a major conservative attempt to limit abortion access ahead of a Supreme Court decision this year that could sharply curtail, or even overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortion legal.
The Missouri legislation would allow people to sue out-of-state doctors who carry out abortions and those who give transportation to women seeking the procedure, according to Politico.
The law attempts to evade legal challenges by adopting the same private enforcement mechanism as Texas' six-week abortion ban. Both policies permit a judge to award at least $10,000 in damages if the suit is successful.
Republican state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who is the main force behind the bill, said the legislation is meant to target a Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois across the river from St. Louis which opened three years ago with the stated goal of helping patients from Missouri, which has one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation.
Coleman told The Washington Post that she has been talking to "anyone who would listen" about legal ways to prevent women in Missouri from seeking abortions in other states.
"If your neighboring state doesn't have pro-life protections, it minimizes the ability to protect the unborn in your state," Coleman said.
If successful, the proposed legislation could serve as a model for other states that seek to prevent their residents from accessing abortion out of state, Politico reported.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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