A group that directs minors on how to obtain abortions filed suit this week to strike down Missouri’s parental involvement laws regarding abortion. The organization, Right by You, argues that the state’s parental notification and consent laws violate Amendment 3, the abortion-rights constitutional amendment narrowly passed by voters in November. The group is asking the court to strike down those laws so that it can begin arranging logistics for minors seeking abortions.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who is a named defendant in the case, issued a statement Wednesday calling the lawsuit “a shameful and dangerous attempt by radicals hell-bent on the destruction of innocent life to undermine not only parental rights but also the health and safety of young women.”
Current Missouri law requires minors to get the consent of one parent or legal guardian before an abortion and to notify the other parent if possible.