JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri lawmakers are pushing for stricter abortion laws at both the federal and state levels after voters approved a landmark constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights in Missouri last fall.
At the federal level, Missouri U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Springfield) has introduced a bill titled the “Life At Conception Act,” asserting that a fetus is a person under the 14th Amendment.
At the state level, Missouri Rep. Brian Seitz (R-Branson) has introduced House Joint Resolution 39, which seeks to prohibit abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected, except in cases of medical emergencies.
In November, Missouri voters narrowly approved a ballot measure to add the right to an abortion to their state constitutions. More than a month later, a judge ruled that Missouri’s near-total abortion ban, which went into effect in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, was not unenforceable under the new constitutional amendment.
Despite this, Planned Parenthood said the decision is still not sufficient for it to resume providing abortions in the state. As more clarity from a judge awaits, GOP Missouri lawmakers have intensified efforts to challenge abortion rights.
Burlison’s bill is challenging the legal status of an unborn child, specifically arguing that unborn children are “persons” under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and secure a right to life from the moment of conception.
“I am strongly pro-life and will always fight to protect the lives of the unborn,” said Burlison via a news release. “My record is clear, both in Missouri and Washington, D.C., I have consistently voted to protect the life of the child and the health of the mother. I will continue to do so moving forward.”
Congress.Gov appears to list this proposal as H.R. 722, although the bill’s text is not yet available, and no further action has been taken since it was referred to a house committee on Jan. 24.
Burlison claims the issue of personhood is still unresolved in abortion rights, despite the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Although Burlison’s news release or other resources available on the bill do not explicitly call for a federal abortion ban, it could lay the groundwork for one. If fetuses are granted constitutional personhood under federal law, the resolution could possibly be interpreted as making abortion legally equivalent to homicide.
Meanwhile, Seitz’s resolution calls for stricter regulations on abortion procedures and enforcement efforts at the state level. It would require physicians who perform abortions to submit detailed reports, including documentation of fetal heartbeat tests.
According to the bill’s language, “except in cases of medical emergency, a physician shall not knowingly perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman unless the physician has determined whether the woman’s unborn child has a detectable fetal heartbeat.”
Physicians would also be required to report the gestational age and testing methods, while also providing a certification that a woman did not solely seek an abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or because of the unborn child’s presumed sex or race.
Seitz’s proposal has had two readings in the Missouri House but is not currently scheduled for another hearing, according to the House’s online bill tracker.
If approved, the resolution would give voters an opportunity to decide whether or not to approve such changes in the November 2026 general election or a future state-approved special election.