The debate surrounding whether abortion should be legal has sparked 67 anti-abortion laws that were passed in the United States last year alone, according to thehill.com. Facts from The Hill’s article were taken from a new report by the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation.
Missouri is among states that have taken steps to limit the increasing number of abortions. In September of 2010, the state issued a regulation that ruled there would be new requirements on doctors and clinics that provide abortions, in addition to a law that was put into effect Jan. 1, 2011.
Under the 2010 law, women will need to make two trips to their local clinic: one for a consultation with their doctor and one for the actual procedure. Also, women will be asked if they would like to hear the baby’s heartbeat, given a pamphlet and informed that the fetus will feel pain.
Individual states in the U.S. have enacted laws of their own, totaling 67 laws. These laws were enacted in several states around the country to curtail the rights for abortion, according to thehill.com.
Outside Planned Parenthood in Columbia, protestor Joanne Schrader said she agrees with this new law.
“Before you have a procedure you are fully informed of the risks, so all (this law) does is bring abortion into the standard of care,” she said.
Schrader is an opponent of abortion rights and said she believes in the sanctity of life because she was adopted after an unplanned pregnancy.
The law enacted Jan. 1, 2011, states that the parent of a minor must be consulted and health insurance will only cover an abortion if the woman’s life is endangered.
MU junior Sophie Mashburn said she believes that keeping parents out of the picture won’t help a girl in her decision.
“Frankly, if the discussion is supposed to be open about underage sex amongst parents, the discussion about abortion should be equally open and parents’ views should be considered,” she said.
In Missouri, the abortions rates have always been well below the national average, and they have been decreasing every year. In 1991, the rate of women having abortions was 1.3 percent, and by 2008, the percentage was down to .06 percent, according to the Guttmacher Institute.