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Bill would make assisting minors in getting an out-of-state abortion illegal

April 29, 2004
By: Cliff Judy
State Capital Bureau

The Missouri House gave final approval to a bill that would make it more difficult for minors to get an abortion. Cliff Judy has more from the state Capitol.

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Currently, minors in Missouri wanting an abortion can cross state lines into Illinois and get one without parental consent. The bill would make assisting such actions illegal.

Opponents of the bill, like St. Louis County Representative Margaret Donnelly, say the bill would make it more difficult for women to have safe and accessible abortions.

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Contents: Donnelly says, "The whole bill is designed, as all these bills are, to make it harder for women to exercise their constitutional right to choose."

Supporters of the bill say it is safer to require parental consent than for a minor to secretly travel out of the state for an abortion. The bill will now go to the Senate. From the state Capitol, I'm Cliff Judy.

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The Missouri House passed a bill that would make it illegal to assist any minor in getting an out-of-state abortion without parental consent. Cliff Judy is in Jefferson City with the story.

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Supporters of the bill say they want to stop minors from secretly crossing state lines into Illinois to get abortions. Illinois does not require parental consent.

Representative Jim Lembke, the bill's co-sponsor, said his sponsorship of the bill was affected in part by the district he represents.

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Contents: Lembke says, "I have a district that I represent that is overwhelming pro-life, and it's one of the issues I ran on and an issue that is important to the majority of my constituents."

Opponents of the bill say it tries to make laws for another state and is unconstitutional. The bill will now go to the Senate. From the state Capitol, I'm Cliff Judy.

cej

The Missouri House passed a bill that would make it harder for minors to get an abortion. Cliff Judy has more from the state Capitol.

Story:
RunTime:
OutCue: SOC

The bill would make it illegal to assist any minor in getting an out-of-state abortion without parental consent.

St. Louis Representative Barbara Fraser, an opponent of the bill, says Missouri can't govern actions taken outside state borders.

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Contents: Fraser says, "This is essentially trying to make laws for another state. That is seriously unconstitutional throughout the United States. One state cannot make laws for another state."

Supporters of the bill say they think it is safer to require parental consent than for minors to secretly travel out of Missouri for an abortion. The bill will now go to the Senate. From the state Capitol, I'm Cliff Judy.