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Committee approves bill defining abortion-provider qualifications and statutory 'viability' definition
Summary
Senate Bill 448, presented for Senator Stubblefield, was approved by the committee; sponsors said it defines the qualifications required of physicians performing abortions and provides a statutory definition of 'viability' that the sponsor says aligns with prior bills and court definitions.
Senate Bill 448, presented to the committee by Senator Hester on behalf of Senator Stubblefield, would clarify what qualifications a doctor must have to perform an abortion and sets out a statutory definition of "viability." The chair recognized the presenter and took questions from committee members about whether the bill would change existing gestational limits.
Ken Yang, identified in the transcript as Director of Governmental Affairs for Family Council, testified that the viability definition in SB448 is "the same definition that you'll find in the election bill that Senator Urban had sponsored last session and in multiple other bills" and said it conforms with how courts have defined the term. Yang specifically referenced Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth when describing a medical/legal framing of viability as a stage when a fetus's life "may be continued outside the womb by natural or artificial life supportive systems." Committee members asked whether the bill would circumvent current gestational limits (discussed in the transcript as 18 versus 20 weeks); Yang and the presenter said the bill would not change the existing operative gestational limits.
After discussion and questions, a second was made and the committee approved SB448 by voice vote. The transcript records committee approval but does not include a recorded roll-call tally.
