In Missouri, The Guardian reports that 3,100 women have had abortions at St. Louis’ only abortion facility, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. The pro-abortion website lamented that this is “200 fewer procedures than in the same period last year,” and believe the drop in abortions is due to Missouri’s 72-hour waiting period, which was enacted last fall.
Abortionist Collen McNicholas, who is employed by Planned Parenthood, said, “Many women are still coming to us, but they’re jumping through more hoops and spending more money on the way.” As LifeNews previously reported, in 2014 Missouri’s pro-life legislature overrode Governor Nixon’s veto of HB 1307, which would extent the 24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion to 72 hours.
Gov. Nixon told the Washington Times that, “Lengthening the already extensive waiting period serves no demonstrable purpose other than to create emotional and financial hardships for women who have undoubtedly already spent considerable time wrestling with perhaps the most difficult decision they may ever have to make.”
However, pro-life lawmakers in the state disagreed. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Kevin Elmer, said, “It’s kind of an emotional period and this is just kind of an opportunity to let the mother and those that she may consult in her family and extended friends to have more time to consider the severity of the decision that she’s about to embark upon where she terminates the life of that child.”
Additionally, the President of Missouri Right to Life, Pam Fichter, supported the legislation and said the following about the bill: “HB 1307 increases the time of reflection after counseling before an abortion can be performed from 24 hours to 72 hours. This reflection time gives a women time to contemplate her situation, research information about the dangers and consequences of abortion and review the help and resources that are available to her through the alternatives to abortion program and other sources.”
Although the abortion industry was upset over the new law in Missouri, Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups decided not to challenge it in court because they didn’t believe their chances of successful were that high. The CEO and President of the Missouri Planned Parenthood, Paula Gianino, said, “We’ve had our national attorneys from all of the leading women’s health organizations in the country work with us, and we have a consensus that we do not have a route at this time to go to court and to stop this law from going into effect — as disappointing and as frustrating as that is.”
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According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, in the U.S., North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah also require a 72-hour waiting period. But overall, 26 states require a waiting period, usually 24 hours.
