DON'T Charge Patients & Doctors With Murder for Abortion

I am vehemently opposed to HB1072 (Sparks), HB1417 (Whaley), and SB619 (Moon), draconian bills that strip Missourians of reproductive autonomy, endanger lives, and weaponize the law against women and healthcare providers. This legislation is not about protecting life—it is about controlling it. By granting personhood at fertilization, the bill opens a Pandora’s box of harm, threatening the dignity, health, and freedom of every pregnant individual in our state. These bills criminalize essential healthcare. While they claim to exempt pregnant people from murder charges under duress, it does nothing to protect those seeking abortion care from prosecution under other criminal statutes. In addition, they subject doctors to second-guessing by politicians, not medical expertise. The vague “reasonable alternatives” clause will paralyze physicians during emergencies, forcing them to delay care—or deny it—out of fear of litigation. Women facing miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, or life-threatening complications will pay the price. These bills ignore the realities of pregnancy. One in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. Redefining “personhood” from fertilization invites invasive investigations into these deeply personal tragedies, traumatizing grieving families. It also disregards survivors of rape and incest, dismissing their trauma by mandating forced pregnancy. What of the 12-year-old child impregnated by her abuser? Or the woman whose wanted pregnancy turns lethal? These bills offer them no compassion—only state-imposed suffering. Government has no place in the exam room. We must trust women and their doctors—not politicians—to make complex, intimate decisions. These bills replace empathy with cruelty, science with ideology, and justice with control. I urge you to reject these dangerous bills. Protect Missourians’ lives, rights, and futures by voting NO on HB1072, HB1417, and SB619.