狐狸视频

In his statement, Parson, a staunch anti-abortion Republican, pointed out that the state鈥檚 law doesn鈥檛 allow for the prosecution of women who seek abortions, only their doctors.

But that鈥檚 not really what the law says, according to an analysis by a former Missouri prosecutor.

In fact, says Joe Bednar, an attorney at the Spencer Fane law firm, Missouri鈥檚 law might even make it possible for a woman to be prosecuted over the use of certain contraceptions, including the morning-after pill and an intra-uterine device, or IUD. Bednar was chief counsel for former Gov. Mel Carnahan, a Democrat, and an assistant prosecutor in Jackson County.

The devil, Bednar writes in , is in the details. Those details are found in the definitions that lawmakers regularly include when they write laws. And in the case of Missouri鈥檚 abortion laws, how the various definitions of abortion and pregnancy work together in the state statutes could open up women who use certain forms of contraception to prosecution.

Missouri鈥檚 law has a sentence that says that women who have an abortion 鈥渟hall not be prosecuted for a conspiracy to violate the provisions of this subsection.鈥�

That鈥檚 the sentence Parson highlighted in his news release announcing that Missouri鈥檚 trigger law was now in effect. The law bans abortions except in certain cases of medical emergency. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest.

Such overarching bans are unpopular with the American public, polling has consistently shown. shows that 61% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in at least some cases. The percentages are even higher among women, who fear prosecution over failed pregnancies. Several polls in the wake of the recent court decision .

So it鈥檚 easy to understand why Parson would highlight Missouri鈥檚 prohibition against prosecution of women who have had abortions for 鈥渃onspiracy.鈥� But in the context of criminal law, that is simply one of many possible charges, Bednar says. Because of the way the definitions of abortion and pregnancy work together in the law, he and other attorneys believe that it is possible a woman could be charged with causing her own abortion for using certain kinds of contraception.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that people really understood at the time what was passed,鈥� says Bednar, a Democrat.

As chief counsel in the governor鈥檚 office, he was involved in reviewing abortion bills for several years. 鈥淭hey have been very artful over time of redefining words that mean one thing to the public but another in Missouri law.鈥�

Bednar鈥檚 not the only one reading the law that way. Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat who is now a commentator on cable television channel MSNBC, says she sees a path for possible prosecution of women in the law.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 decide what鈥檚 worse, that they passed a law that women can be prosecuted or that they are lying about it,鈥� says McCaskill, a former Jackson County prosecutor.

And it鈥檚 not just Democrats who share that opinion. When the bill was passed in 2019, the former chief counsel to Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, issued an opinion suggesting that women could face future prosecution.

鈥淢y opinion is that there are circumstances in which it is at least possible that a woman could be charged with a felony,鈥� said Lowell Pearson, an attorney with Husch Blackwell.

One way or another, the issue of abortion has now become something that could change prosecutorial elections in Missouri and elsewhere. This week, 狐狸视频 County Prosecutor Wesley Bell was one of 88 prosecutors nationally to sign on to a letter pledging not to prosecute those who 鈥渟eek, assist in, or provide abortions.鈥�

Lawmakers in some states 鈥� including Texas 鈥� are seeking to criminalize those who help women seek abortions in other states, such as Illinois. But the prosecutors who signed the letter say they will not file such cases.

鈥淎s elected prosecutors, we have a responsibility to ensure that these limited resources are focused on efforts to prevent and address serious crimes, rather than enforcing abortion bans that divide our community, create untenable choices for patients and healthcare providers, and erode trust in the justice system,鈥� the prosecutors, including Bell, . 鈥淓nforcing abortion bans would mean taking time, effort, and resources away from the prosecution of the most serious crimes 鈥� conduct that truly impacts public safety.鈥�

Other prosecutors, of course, will choose a different path. The nonprofit National Advocates for Pregnant Women, for instance, that there have been more than 1,300 cases of pregnant women who have been arrested or prosecuted for various actions related to pregnancy between 2006 and 2020. And that was before the abortion bans triggered by the Supreme Court鈥檚 overturning of Roe vs. Wade.

This is the new battleground in the abortion debate. Do you want your local prosecutors seeking charges against women for their personal health care choices?

In Missouri, that鈥檚 an open question.