JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt signed a proclamation Friday banning abortion following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Missouri has a “trigger law,” meaning abortion would be abolished with a proclamation from the governor or AG following Roe v. Wade overturning.
Missouri is the first in the country to end abortion. Schmitt signed the proclamation at about 9:15 a.m., minutes after the court’s ruling.
Until Friday, a woman was allowed to get an abortion up to 22 weeks in Missouri.
The trigger law was passed in 2019. Three years ago, the legislature also passed a bill banning abortions after 8 weeks. An exemption for rape or incest survivors is not included.
The Supreme Court’s decision Friday to fundamentally reshape American society by overturning the landmark 1973 precedent is certain to ignite a political firestorm and yield a complex patchwork of state laws that will effectively block large swathes of the population from terminating unwanted pregnancies.