(Photo: Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio)
On February 7th, 2024, Missouri senators voted to maintain the state’s strict law forbidding abortions – even in cases of rape and incest. Under Missouri law, abortions will remain legal only “in cases of medical emergency.”
Emergency: How close to death does a person has to be to be considered a candidate for abortion?
Multiple states have used the similar phrasing of “medical emergency”and, legally, it’s ambiguous. The exceptions are vaguely worded and they have a lack of flexibility in deciding when there is an emergency that requires a pregnancy to be terminated. The citizens and OB/GYNs in these states are discovering that this ambiguity results in a huge problem.
A 2022 case in Missouri is testing whether federal laws override state bans when an emergency abortion is necessary. The case involves Mylissa Farmer of Joplin, Missouri: a 41-year old who was denied an abortion by Freeman Hospital after her water broke nearly 18 weeks into her pregnancy.
Farmer faced a risk of serious infection caused by the loss of amniotic fluid, followed by bleeding and cramping. She drove over three hours to the emergency department of the University of Kansas Hospital, but the institution was all too worried to be subject to suspension or revocation of its license under the provisions of section 197.070. 6. Mylissa Farmer eventually sought medical help outside the state.
Rape-related pregnancies alter the mental health of victims
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, nine states have banned abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Five others have exceptions for rape, but only in the very early stages of pregnancy or after the assault is reported to law enforcement.
In the United States, there is a reported rape every 6.2 minutes, and one in five women will be raped in her lifetime.
In a new study published in January 2024, researchers at The Journal of the American Medical Association used government data on sexual violence to calculate that after the overturning of Roe v.Wade, there have been more than 64,000 rape-related pregnancies in jurisdictions with bans.
The National Library of Medicine explains that unintended pregnancy is one of the most critical challenges facing the public health system and imposes significant financial and social costs on society.
Additionally, according to studies by Lissman, Lokot and Martson in 2023, it is shown that pregnancy can be a particularly hard and traumatic time for the victim. Psychologically, rape has been identified as a significant risk factor for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder, with 35% to 50% of victims affected.
Victims face flashbacks, nightmares, and a sense of being vulnerable. During the birth process, victims stated that “the behavior of the maternity staff mirrored their abuser.” One survivor in the study tells their experience:
It was just traumatic- it was just the trapped- it was people sort of, you know grabbing onto your thighs and pushing your legs and doing things with your body that I’ve obviously experienced before under different circumstances and every time it happened just another image in your mind. So, you just lay there, like you’re going through it all over again.
Republicans block attempt to add rape, incest exemptions to Missouri’s abortion ban
On the Senate floor, Democratic state Sen. Tracy McCreery was first in line to oppose the ban of abortion. She explained that current Missouri’s law goes too far and called on her colleagues to “show an ounce of compassion” for victims of rape and incest. However, PBS reported that her efforts were struck down along party lines by the Republican-controlled state Senate.
Sen. Bill Eigel explained that allowing abortions is allowing kids to have abortion. “A 1-year-old could get an abortion under this,” he quoted, defying the biological rules of a person’s anatomy.
Sen. Rick Brattin explained that instead of allowing abortions, he would, instead, ask “for death penalties to rapists.” Republican Sen. Mike Moon was also in favor of this reactive measure, and added to Brattin’s comments: calling for rapists to be castrated.
Access to safe and legal abortion is a matter of human rights
Many are well disposed to condemn rapists and protect “innocent” unwanted babiesm but the question remains of a person’s choice over their own body and reproductive function.
The question pertains to the right of a person to make decisions they feel are best for themself and their family–to determine their own future. Bodily autonomy without external domination or duress should be a basic legal right for all.
According to the World Health Organization, 23,000 women die from unsafe abortions each year and tens of thousands more experience significant health complications globally.
As explained by Ana Langer, professor of the practice of public health and coordinator of the women and Health Initiatives at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, these laws will not result in fewer abortions. Instead, they compel people to risk their lives and health by seeking out unsafe abortion care.
The unclear definition of the exception for medical emergencies puts more people at risk of losing their lives. Doctors and providers are now making choices that either protect the health of their patients or avoid being prosecuted for a class B felony.
