COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri's Republican attorney general has pledged to enforce some laws restricting abortion despite a new constitutional amendment widely expected to undo the state's near-total ban on the procedure.
In an opinion requested by incoming GOP governor Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote that his office will continue enforcing a ban on abortion after fetal viability.
There is an exception carved out in the amendment for cases in which a health care provider deems an abortion necessary to ''protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.''
''Under the express terms of the amendment, the government may still protect innocent life after viability,'' Bailey wrote. ''The statutes thus remain generally enforceable after viability.''
Bailey said his office also will continue to honor a Missouri law requiring parental permission for minors to receive abortions.
Bailey's opinion comes after voters approved a ballot measure this month that enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution while allowing lawmakers to restrict or ban it after fetal viability.
The term ''viability'' is used by health care providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally or whether a fetus might survive outside the uterus. Though there's no defined time frame, doctors say it is sometime after the 21st week of pregnancy.
The measure's passage was one of seven victories for abortion rights advocates this past election, while Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving bans in place.
