Missouri Democrat Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed a bill that would have required a 72-hour wait before ending the life of a baby via abortion.
The bill would have tripled the current 24-hour waiting period for an abortion.
“[This bill has] no demonstrable purpose other than to create emotional and financial hardships for women who have undoubtedly already spent considerable time wrestling with perhaps the most difficult decision they may ever have to make,” Nixon said.
The governor also said the bill was “extreme and disrespectful” and would “unnecessarily prolong the suffering of rape and incest victims and jeopardize the health and wellbeing of women.”
Republicans said they would attempt to override the veto during a September session. It would require a 2/3 vote of both houses to override the governor.
The Missouri legislature has passed a law that will require any woman who is seeking an abortion to wait 72 hours after they initially contact a clinic.
The measure triples the current waiting period in the state and makes Missouri the third state behind Utah and South Dakota to require 72 hours. The waiting period would be waived in the event of a medical emergency.
The bill passed the Missouri House 111-39 and sent it to the governor who has a pattern of allowing abortion restrictions to become law without signing the bills. Last year, Nixon ignored a bill that requires doctors to be in the room when the initial dose of drugs for medical abortion is injected.
Nixon told reporters that he would review the waiting period and make a decision in line with his other decisions regarding abortion legislation.
Pro-abortion advocates were furious at the passage of the law saying that it could be medically dangerous to make a woman wait two more days before ending the life of their child via abortion.
