A new Missouri state law requiring women to wait 72 hours to have an abortion after their initial consultation is set to take effect Friday, and the state’s only abortion provider says it will not immediately appeal the measure in court.
President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, Paula Gianino, said attorneys for their national organization did not think an appeal would be successful in state or federal court.
“Until we have a change in the courts… unfortunately, I believe we’re going to continue to see these kinds of onerous and really, cruel laws being passed,” Gianino said.
Gianino said Planned Parenthood will look to file lawsuits on behalf of women whose health is compromised by the new law. That could include women for whom the 72-hour wait forces them to undergo a surgical abortion, instead of taking an abortion pill, which is only effective before a certain number of weeks.
“Another scenario would be patients who are referred to us later in pregnancy because of fetal anomalies not discovered until late in pregnancy, or if a woman’s health status would change dramatically,” Gianino said. “Those kinds of situations might push a woman beyond our scope and level of care right now.”
In the meantime, Gianino said the organization is expanding the number of health centers in the state of Missouri that are able to provide health consultations prior to an abortion. That way, women in rural areas or with transportation difficulties would only need to travel to St. Louis for the procedure itself.
“This law forces women to have abortions later in their pregnancy, plain and simple,” Gianino said.
Although the law was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon, the Missouri state Senate deployed a procedural action to stop a filibuster and overrode the veto, with a 23-7 vote along party lines. The Missouri House voted overwhelmingly to override his veto.
Since 2006, Missouri law has required women wanting an abortion to wait 24 hours after an initial consultation. During the consultation, women are provided with information about the gestational age and anatomical characteristics of the fetus, as well as a list of agencies and nonprofits providing assistance to women who carry the child to term.
The new legislation was spearheaded by anti-abortion advocates including Missouri Right to Life. The organization’s president, Pam Fichter, calls the 72-hour rule a "reflection period."
“A lot of women who are seeking an abortion are coerced into an abortion. Some of them are in an excited, very emotional state,” Fichter said. “We think that having this additional time will give them time to seek out and find other options.”
Opponents of the law say the 72-hour wait is traumatic for the mother, especially in cases of incest and rape. They argue the wait places an undue burden on women who must travel to St. Louis or out of state to obtain an abortion.
Only two other states have such a waiting period on the books: Utah and South Dakota.
Like the measure taking effect in Missouri, the South Dakota law does not include exceptions for rape or incest. Lawyers for a Planned Parenthood there challenged the law in 2011 but ultimately dropped the part of the appeal contesting the 72-hour wait. The Utah waiting period does have exceptions for rape and incest.
