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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 951
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MOON.
5132S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 541.033, 562.071, 563.026, and 565.002, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof
five new sections relating to the protection of unborn children, with a referendum
clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 541.033, 562.071, 563.026, and 1
565.002, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in 2
lieu thereof, to be known as sections 1.207, 541.033, 562.071, 3
563.026, and 565.002, to read as follows:4
1.207. 1. This section shall be known and may be 1
cited as the "Equal Protection Act". 2
2. Acknowledging the sanctity of innocent human life, 3
created in the image of God, it is the intent of the general 4
assembly: 5
(1) To acknowledge the sanctity of innocent human 6
life, created in the image of God, which should be equally 7
protected from the beginning of biological development to 8
natural death; 9
(2) To acknowledge the Constitution of the United 10
States as overriding anything in the constitution of this 11
state contrary to it, as it provides, "This Constitution, 12
and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in 13
Pursuance thereof...shall be the supreme Law of the Land; 14
and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any 15
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Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the 16
Contrary notwithstanding."; 17
(3) To follow the Constitution of the United States, 18
which requires that "[n]o state...shall deny to any person 19
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"; 20
(4) To fulfill that constitutional requirement by 21
protecting the lives of preborn persons with the same 22
criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born persons 23
by repealing provisions that permit willful prenatal 24
homicide or assault; 25
(5) To protect pregnant mothers from being pressured 26
to abort by repealing provisions that may otherwise allow a 27
person to solicit, aid, or direct a mother to abort her 28
child; 29
(6) To ensure that all persons potentially subject to 30
such laws are entitled to due process protections; and 31
(7) To abolish abortion in this state. 32
3. Unless specifically provided otherwise, enforcement 33
is subject to the same presumptions, defenses, 34
justifications, laws of parties, immunities, and clemencies 35
as would apply where the victim is a person who had been 36
born alive. 37
541.033. 1. Persons accused of committing offenses 1
against the laws of this state, except as may be otherwise 2
provided by law, shall be prosecuted: 3
(1) In the county in which the offense is committed; or 4
(2) If the offense is committed partly in one county 5
and partly in another, or if the elements of the crime occur 6
in more than one county, then in any of the counties where 7
any element of the offense occurred. 8
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2. Persons accused of committing the offenses of 9
identity theft against the laws of this state in sections 10
570.223, 570.224, and 575.120 shall be prosecuted: 11
(1) In the county in which the offense is committed; 12
(2) If the offense is committed partly in one county 13
and partly in another, or if the elements of the offense 14
occur in more than one county, then in any of the counties 15
where any element of the offense occurred; 16
(3) In the county in which the victim resides; or 17
(4) In the county in which the property obtained or 18
attempted to be obtained was located. 19
3. Persons accused of committing an offense against 20
the laws of this state under chapter 565 where the victim is 21
an unborn child shall be prosecuted: 22
(1) In the county in which the offense is committed; 23
(2) If the offense is committed partly in one county 24
and partly in another, or if the elements of the offense 25
occur in more than one county, then in any of the counties 26
where any element of the offense occurred; 27
(3) In the county in which the accused resides; 28
(4) In the county in which the victim resides; or 29
(5) In the county in which the accused is apprehended. 30
562.071. 1. It is an affirmative defense that the 1
defendant engaged in the conduct charged to constitute an 2
offense because he or she was coerced to do so, by the use 3
of, or threatened imminent use of, unlawful physical force 4
upon him or her or a third person, which force or threatened 5
force a person of reasonable firmness in his situation would 6
have been unable to resist. 7
2. The defense of "duress" as defined in subsection 1 8
is not available: 9
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(1) As to the [crime] offense of murder, except where 10
the victim is an unborn child and the defendant is the 11
child's mother; 12
(2) As to any offense when the defendant recklessly 13
places himself or herself in a situation in which it is 14
probable that he or she will be subjected to the force or 15
threatened force described in subsection 1 of this section. 16
563.026. 1. Unless inconsistent with other provisions 1
of this chapter defining justifiable use of physical force, 2
or with some other provision of law, conduct which would 3
otherwise constitute any offense other than a class A felony 4
or murder is justifiable and not criminal when it is 5
necessary as an emergency measure to avoid an imminent 6
public or private injury which is about to occur by reason 7
of a situation occasioned or developed through no fault of 8
the actor, and which is of such gravity that, according to 9
ordinary standards of intelligence and morality, the 10
desirability of avoiding the injury outweighs the 11
desirability of avoiding the injury sought to be prevented 12
by the statute defining the offense charged. 13
2. The necessity and justifiability of conduct under 14
subsection 1 of this section may not rest upon 15
considerations pertaining only to the morality and 16
advisability of the statute, either in its general 17
application or with respect to its application to a 18
particular class of cases arising thereunder. Whenever 19
evidence relating to the defense of justification under this 20
section is offered, the court shall rule as a matter of law 21
whether the claimed facts and circumstances would, if 22
established, constitute a justification. 23
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3. Conduct which would otherwise constitute any 24
offense is justifiable and not criminal when it is a lawful 25
medical procedure: 26
(1) Performed by a licensed physician; 27
(2) Performed on a pregnant female to avert the death 28
of the pregnant female; 29
(3) That results in the accidental or unintentional 30
death of the unborn child the pregnant female is carrying; 31
and 32
(4) Performed when all reasonable alternatives to save 33
the life of the unborn child: 34
(a) Are unavailable; or 35
(b) Were attempted unsuccessfully before the 36
performance of the medical procedure. 37
4. The defense of justification under this section is 38
an affirmative defense. 39
565.002. As used in this chapter, unless a different 1
meaning is otherwise plainly required the following terms 2
mean: 3
(1) "Adequate cause", cause that would reasonably 4
produce a degree of passion in a person of ordinary 5
temperament sufficient to substantially impair an ordinary 6
person's capacity for self-control; 7
(2) "Child", a person under seventeen years of age; 8
(3) "Conduct", includes any act or omission; 9
(4) "Course of conduct", a pattern of conduct composed 10
of two or more acts, which may include communication by any 11
means, over a period of time, however short, evidencing a 12
continuity of purpose. Constitutionally protected activity 13
is not included within the meaning of course of conduct. 14
Such constitutionally protected activity includes picketing 15
or other organized protests; 16
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(5) "Deliberation", cool reflection for any length of 17
time no matter how brief; 18
(6) "Domestic victim", a household or family member as 19
the term "family" or "household member" is defined in 20
section 455.010, including any child who is a member of the 21
household or family; 22
(7) "Emotional distress", something markedly greater 23
than the level of uneasiness, nervousness, unhappiness, or 24
the like which are commonly experienced in day-to-day living; 25
(8) "Full or partial nudity", the showing of all or 26
any part of the human genitals, pubic area, buttock, or any 27
part of the nipple of the breast of any female person, with 28
less than a fully opaque covering; 29
(9) "Legal custody", the right to the care, custody 30
and control of a child; 31
(10) "Parent", either a biological parent or a parent 32
by adoption; 33
(11) "Person", includes a human being, including an 34
unborn child at every stage of development from the moment 35
of fertilization until birth; 36
(12) "Person having a right of custody", a parent or 37
legal guardian of the child; 38
[(12)] (13) "Photographs" or "films", the making of 39
any photograph, motion picture film, videotape, or any other 40
recording or transmission of the image of a person; 41
[(13)] (14) "Place where a person would have a 42
reasonable expectation of privacy", any place where a 43
reasonable person would believe that a person could disrobe 44
in privacy, without being concerned that the person's 45
undressing was being viewed, photographed or filmed by 46
another; 47
[(14)] (15) "Special victim", any of the following: 48
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(a) A law enforcement officer assaulted in the 49
performance of his or her official duties or as a direct 50
result of such official duties; 51
(b) Emergency personnel, any paid or volunteer 52
firefighter, emergency room, hospital, or trauma center 53
personnel, or emergency medical technician, assaulted in the 54
performance of his or her official duties or as a direct 55
result of such official duties; 56
(c) A probation and parole officer assaulted in the 57
performance of his or her official duties or as a direct 58
result of such official duties; 59
(d) An elderly person; 60
(e) A person with a disability; 61
(f) A vulnerable person; 62
(g) Any jailer or corrections officer of the state or 63
one of its political subdivisions assaulted in the 64
performance of his or her official duties or as a direct 65
result of such official duties; 66
(h) A highway worker in a construction or work zone as 67
the terms "highway worker", "construction zone", and "work 68
zone" are defined under section 304.580; 69
(i) Any utility worker, meaning any employee of a 70
utility that provides gas, heat, electricity, water, steam, 71
telecommunications services, or sewer services, whether 72
privately, municipally, or cooperatively owned, while in the 73
performance of his or her job duties, including any person 74
employed under a contract; 75
(j) Any cable worker, meaning any employee of a cable 76
operator, as such term is defined in section 67.2677, 77
including any person employed under contract, while in the 78
performance of his or her job duties; and 79
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(k) Any employee of a mass transit system, including 80
any employee of public bus or light rail companies, while in 81
the performance of his or her job duties; 82
[(15)] (16) "Sudden passion", passion directly caused 83
by and arising out of provocation by the victim or another 84
acting with the victim which passion arises at the time of 85
the offense and is not solely the result of former 86
provocation; 87
[(16)] (17) "Trier", the judge or jurors to whom 88
issues of fact, guilt or innocence, or the assessment and 89
declaration of punishment are submitted for decision; 90
[(17)] (18) "Views", the looking upon of another 91
person, with the unaided eye or with any device designed or 92
intended to improve visual acuity, for the purpose of 93
arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person. 94
Section B. The provisions of this act apply 1
prospectively only and not retroactively. It applies only 2
to offenses committed, or causes of action that arise, on or 3
after the effective date of this act. 4
Section C. This act is hereby submitted to the 1
qualified voters of this state for approval or rejection at 2
an election which is hereby ordered and which shall be held 3
and conducted on Tuesday next following the first Monday in 4
August, 2026, under the applicable laws and constitutional 5
provisions of this state for the submission of referendum 6
measures by the general assembly, and this act shall become 7
effective when approved by a majority of the votes cast 8
thereon at such election and not otherwise. 9
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