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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2483
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE WEBER.
5324H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 188.015, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the
respect people's abortion decisions act.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 188.015, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 188.015, to read as follows:
188.015. 1. As used in this chapter , the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Abortion"[ :
3 (a) The act of using or prescribing any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or any
4 other means or substance with the intent to destroy the life of an embryo or fetus in his or her
5 mother's womb; or
6 (b) The intentional termination of the pregnancy of a mother by using or prescribing
7 any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or other means or substance with an intention other
8 than to increase the probability of a live birth or to remove a dead unborn child ] , any medical
9 tr eatment intended to induce the termination of a pr egnancy , except for the purpose of
10 pr oducing a live birth ;
11 (2) "Abortion facility", a clinic, physician's of fice, or any other place or facility in
12 which abortions are performed or induced other than a hospital;
13 (3) "Af filiate", a person who or entity that enters into, with an abortion facility , a legal
14 relationship created or governed by at least one written instrument, including a certificate of
15 formation, a franchise agreement, standards of af filiation, bylaws, or a license, that
16 demonstrates:
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 (a) Common ownership, management, or control between the parties to the
18 relationship;
19 (b) A franchise granted by the person or entity to the af filiate; or
20 (c) The granting or extension of a license or other agreement authorizing the af filiate
21 to use the other person's or entity's brand name, trademark, service mark, or other registered
22 identification mark;
23 (4) "Conception", the fertilization of the ovum [ of a female ] by a sperm [ of a male ];
24 (5) "Department", the department of health and senior services;
25 (6) "Down Syndrome", the same meaning as defined in section 191.923;
26 (7) "Gestational age", length of pregnancy as measured from the first day of the
27 [ woman's ] person's last menstrual period;
28 (8) "Medical emer gency", a condition which, based on reasonable medical judgment,
29 so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant [ woman ] person as to necessitate the
30 immediate abortion of [ her ] the pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant [ woman ] person
31 or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical
32 impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant [ woman ] person ;
33 (9) "Physician", any person licensed to practice medicine in this state by the state
34 board of registration for the healing arts;
35 (10) "Reasonable medical judgment", a medical judgment that would be made by a
36 reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities
37 with respect to the medical conditions involved;
38 (1 1) [ "Unborn child", the of fspring of human beings from the moment of conception
39 until birth and at every stage of its biological development, including the human conceptus,
40 zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus;
41 (12) ] "V iability" [ or "viable", that stage of fetal development when the life of the
42 unborn child may be continued indefinitely outside the womb by natural or artificial life-
43 supportive systems;
44 (13) "V iable pregnancy" or "viable intrauterine pregnancy", in the first trimester of
45 pregnancy , an intrauterine pregnancy that can potentially result in a liveborn baby ] , the point
46 in a pr egnancy when, in the good faith medical judgment of a physician, or the
47 particular facts of the case befor e that physician, ther e is a rea sonable likelihood of the
48 fetus's sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary
49 medical measur es .
50 2. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary , the state shall protect a person's
51 right to terminate a preg nancy .
52 3. No pr osecution or pr oceeding shall be br ought or maintained under state
53 criminal law or otherwise for acts that are authorized or permitted under this section.
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54 4. The provi sions of this section shall be severable, and if any phrase, clause,
55 sentence, or pr ovision is declar ed to be invalid or is pr eempted by federal law or
56 r egulation, the validity of the r emainder of this section shall not be affected.
✔
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