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Missouri women seeking abortions may have to drive hundreds of miles, twice

A new law in Missouri could force women to drive hundreds of miles, maybe multiple times, for an abortion.

A new law in Missouri could force women to drive hundreds of miles, maybe multiple times, for an abortion.

The law, which went into effect Tuesday, requires that women receive both state-mandated counseling about their abortions and the procedure itself from the same healthcare provider. Since the state has only three clinics, women might have to make multiple trips across long distances — depending on how far they live from the provider — under the new regulations.

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Missouri women seeking abortions already had to wait 72 hours after receiving counseling before undergoing the actual procedure. They must learn about potential risks and the gestational age of their fetus and hear a specific description of the abortion procedure.

But until Tuesday, a woman could get the counseling from one healthcare provider, then have the abortion performed by another.

“This law will force some women to wait weeks for an abortion, travel hundreds of miles, or lose access altogether,” Aaron Samulcek, Planned Parenthood Great Plains’ interim president and CEO, said in a statement. Planned Parenthood of Great Plains and other abortion rights groups initially sought to halt the regulations in court, but a judge refused to block them on Monday.

That 72-hour waiting period is one of the nation’s longest. While 27 states mandate that women seeking abortion wait a number of hours between receiving counseling and undergoing the procedure, most require a 24-hour minimum wait. Oklahoma and South Dakota are the only other states to make women wait 72 hours, according to the Guttmacher Institute. (In South Dakota, however, weekends and state holidays can’t be included in those hours.)

Missouri women must also receive written materials alleging that personhood begins at conception and that a fetus can feel pain, though a fetus lacks that ability until at least 24 weeks, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The new law taking effect Tuesday, however, doesn’t just apply to women. Clinics face new inspection requirements, while employees who whistleblow on abortion clinics enjoy increased protections. The Missouri attorney general also has increased powers to prosecute abortion law violations.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Haley applauded the judge’s decision to allow the law to take effect. The law “enacts sensible regulations that protect the health of women in Missouri, and we will continue to vigorously defend these,” he explained in a statement.

READ: Undocumented teen gets abortion after Trump admin tried to stop her