Personhood amendment clears Missouri House committee

The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families voted 8-3 on Tuesday to approve a constitutional amendment recognizing the personhood of preborn babies in the state constitution.

As previously covered by Live Action, House Joint Resolution 98 would place the amendment before Missouri voters, for the purpose of ensuring the state has clear legal protection from conception onward in place, should Roe v. Wade be eventually overturned.

That would make Missouri the sixteenth state with some sort of pro-life legislation on the books preparing for a post-Roe status quo.

“All life is life, regardless of how it was conceived,” said Republican state Representative Rick Brattin in support of the resolution, which prior to the vote was amended to remove any exceptions under which abortion would still be permissible (however, this would not prohibit life-saving treatment for mothers that indirectly results in a preborn baby’s death).

This being said, the resolution is not expected to pass the legislature this session, which is slated to end in a few weeks.