‘Missouri Handmaid’s Bill’: Missouri bill wants to track pregnant women ‘at risk’ of having an abortion and give their babies to more ‘fit’ parents
Republicans have introduced quite a few Handmaid’s Tale-esque bills. Still, none get closer to that dystopian reality than Missouri House Bill 807, which proposes tracking pregnant women perceived to be “at risk” of having an abortion and giving their babies to families deemed “fit” to parent.
While Missouri was once considered a swing state, it has more recently staunchly aligned itself with the far-right. The state has sought to enforce a near-total ban on abortion and proposed Covenant Marriage laws to prevent women from having access to a no-fault divorce. Missouri was one of several states that had a trigger law regarding abortion. Hence, when Roe v. Wade was repealed, a law immediately went into effect banning abortion except in cases where the pregnancy posed a threat to a woman’s life. However, recently, Missouri narrowly passed an amendment to restore abortion rights. Despite voters clearly demonstrating their support of abortion rights, conservative lawmakers are already eyeing a repeal. Additionally, they are always bringing new and even more terrifying proposals to the House in their mission to control women.
What is Missouri House Bill 807?
Recently, Republican Missouri Rep. Phil Amato introduced House Bill 807, which TikTok influencers quickly dubbed the “Missouri Handmaid’s Bill.” At first glance, the bill seems interested in strengthening the Department of Social Services’ Division of Maternal and Child Services and providing additional support for adoptive families and those interested in adoption. However, things get strange when it suggests the department “maintain a central registry of each expectant mother who is at risk for seeking an abortion of her unborn child.”
The bill leaves numerous questions unanswered about the registry, especially regarding how the state will determine which women are “at risk” of having an abortion. Couldn’t it just say that every pregnant woman is at risk or discriminate against certain groups by attributing the risk to them? Not only that, but there’s no indication that consent will be needed to put these women on the registry so that the department can track them. Having the state trying to keep databases of pregnant women is already terrifying, but the bill gets worse. It also suggests that the departments keep registries of prospective adoptive parents who are deemed “fit and proper to adopt a child” and essentially try to match them to women considered “at risk” of an abortion.
The language is fairly vague, but the bill suggests making the registry of women “at risk” of having an abortion available to potential adoptive parents and facilitating the adoption process. Notice that it doesn’t suggest solely matching prospective adoptive parents to women who have agreed to and gone through the legal process of putting their baby up for adoption. They are matching them with women who the state has identified through some unknown process without their consent as “at risk” of having an abortion and seemingly pushing for these women to have their child and give it to someone who the state has deemed more “fit and proper.” It’s not hard to interpret the bill as trying to pressure and maybe even force women they’ve deemed “unfit” to be mothers to give up their parental rights and reproduce to supply “fit” parents (i.e., white, evangelical Christians) with children.
Writer Jessica Valenti described the bill as trying to empower anti-abortion and religious extremists by creating this registry to give them access to vulnerable women so they can, essentially, “funnel” their babies to other families.
Fortunately, the bill faced opposition during its first hearing on February 18. However, Amato appeared determined to reintroduce it as he promised to amend the bill, including changing the registry from mandatory to voluntary. Of course, such an amendment makes little difference, as the biggest question is what it means when one makes it onto the registry, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. If a woman is pressured by her parents or partner to enter the registry or makes the decision herself before changing her mind, has she already lost her parental rights? Whether the bill goes through or not, it’s horrifying that someone actually had the audacity to introduce it. It serves as a reminder to Americans that if the far-right gets their way, The Handmaid’s Tale is, indeed, the ultimate goal they have in mind.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
