Missouri lawmakers overrode the governor's veto on an abortion law requiring women to wait three-days before they have the procedure, enacting one of the longest abortion delay periods in the country.
Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the so-called "reflection period" bill, meant to give women time to reflect on the decision to have an abortion, saying it was "extreme and disrespectful towards women," the Associated Press reported. But on Wednesday the Republican-controlled legislature secured the required two-thirds majority vote to override the governor.
The law states that women who decide to have an abortion must wait 72 hours before they can go through with the procedure. There are no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
If "you get a couple more days to think about this pregnancy, think about where it's going, you may change your mind," Republican Representative Kathie Conway said according to the AP.
The law, which takes effect in 30 days, will make Missouri the only state besides South Dakota to have a 72-hour wait. Utah has a similar law but it makes exceptions for cases of rape and incest.
Women's rights groups echoed the governor's sentiments about the three-day wait, calling it degrading.
"It's designed to demean and shame a woman in an effort to change her mind," Representative Judy Morgan, a Democrat, said according to the AP.
For Liz Read-Katz, of Columbia, waiting 72-hours for an abortion would have been unbearable. She chose to have the procedure after finding out the fetus had a serious chromosomal defect.
"Waiting 72 hours wouldn't have changed my mind, but it most definitely would have caused more pain both mentally and physically," she told the news agency.
Missouri women already faced difficulties having abortions before the law was passed, with less clinics opting not to perform them, forcing women to travel miles across state lines to Kansas and Illinois where the wait is not as long.
Planned Parenthood, which operates the state's only licensed abortion clinic in St. Louis, might appeal the law but as of Thursday has not said if it will do so, according to the AP.
