JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have overridden a veto to enact one of the nation’s longest abortion waiting periods.
Legislators passed a measure Wednesday that will require women to wait 72 hours after consulting a physician before having an abortion. That’s the second most-stringent standard behind South Dakota, where a 72-hour wait can sometimes extend longer because weekends and holidays are not counted.
Utah is the only other state with a 72-hour wait, but it has exceptions for rape, incest and other circumstances.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the Missouri legislation partly because it lacked exceptions for rape or incest. He called it “extreme and disrespectful” to women.
The Republican-led Legislature specifically rejected those exceptions earlier this year, arguing that all lives deserved an equal value no matter how they are conceived.