New Missouri resolution would define a preborn baby as a person

“As a former embryo myself, I want that protection for all embryos, present and future.” So said Missouri State Representative Mike Moon (R) this week in support of a resolution to protect preborn babies in the state constitution.

The resolution proposed by Moon would send to Missouri voters a ballot initiative, asking them to approve a constitutional amendment formally recognizing preborn babies as human beings with the right to life.

Moon does not consider the proposed amendment to be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, but would instead “set a foundation in the [state] Constitution that protects the health of women and unborn children,” providing “a constitutional framework for any other laws that can come after it.”

It could also be interpreted as effectively banning abortions in Missouri in the event of Roe being overturned. Currently, 11 states still have pre-Roe abortion bans on the books that would be reactivated if Roe fell, and another four have post-Roe laws that would immediately ban abortion upon Roe’s overturn.

Prominent pro-life speaker and advocate Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived in rape, testified in favor of the resolution, arguing “I deserved to be protected, and every child deserves that same protection […] I’m going to do everything I can to protect others.”