Text of MO HB 1144 (2025)

FIRST REGULAR SESSION HOUSE BILL NO. 1144 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SEITZ. 2578H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk AN ACT To repeal section 188.015, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to reproductive health care. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows: Section A. Section 188.015, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 188.015, to read as follows: 188.015. As used in this chapter, the following terms mean: 2 (1) "Abortion": 3 (a) The act of using or prescribing any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or any 4 other means or substance with the intent to destroy the life of an embryo or fetus in his or her 5 mother's womb; or 6 (b) The intentional termination of the pregnancy of a mother by using or prescribing 7 any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or other means or substance with an intention other 8 than to increase the probability of a live birth or to remove a dead unborn child; 9 (2) "Abortion facility", a clinic, physician's office, or any other place or facility in 10 which abortions are performed or induced other than a hospital; 11 (3) "Affiliate", a person who or entity that enters into, with an abortion facility, a legal 12 relationship created or governed by at least one written instrument, including a certificate of 13 formation, a franchise agreement, standards of affiliation, bylaws, or a license, that 14 demonstrates: 15 (a) Common ownership, management, or control between the parties to the 16 relationship; 17 (b) A franchise granted by the person or entity to the affiliate; or EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. 18 (c) The granting or extension of a license or other agreement authorizing the affiliate 19 to use the other person's or entity's brand name, trademark, service mark, or other registered 20 identification mark; 21 (4) "Conception", the fertilization of the ovum of a female by a sperm of a male; 22 (5) "Department", the department of health and senior services; 23 (6) "Down Syndrome", the same meaning as defined in section 191.923; 24 (7) "Gestational age", length of pregnancy as measured from the first day of the 25 woman's last menstrual period; 26 (8) "Medical emergency", a condition which, based on reasonable medical judgment, 27 so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate 28 abortion of her pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant woman or for which a delay will 29 create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily 30 function of the pregnant woman; 31 (9) "Physician", any person licensed to practice medicine in this state by the state 32 board of registration for the healing arts; 33 (10) "Reasonable medical judgment", a medical judgment that would be made by a 34 reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities 35 with respect to the medical conditions involved; 36 (11) "Reproductive health care", health care that is needed to support the 37 reproduction of human beings and care of the reproductive organs matching an 38 individual's biological sex at birth; 39 (12) "Unborn child", the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception 40 until birth and at every stage of its biological development, including the human conceptus, 41 zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus; 42 [(12)] (13) "Viability" or "viable", that stage of fetal development when the life of the 43 unborn child may be continued indefinitely outside the womb by natural or artificial life- 44 supportive systems; 45 [(13)] (14) "Viable pregnancy" or "viable intrauterine pregnancy", in the first 46 trimester of pregnancy, an intrauterine pregnancy that can potentially result in a liveborn 47 baby. ✔ HB 1144 2