House Children & Families Committee advances three bills, including contested HB 26-88

The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families advanced three bills in executive session on Monday: the House Committee substitute for House Bill 18 and for House Bill 19-48, both by unanimous committee votes, and House Bill 26-88 by a 12-5 roll call.

Representative Lobinger, explaining an amendment to HCS HB 18, said the language clarifies platform liability for child-created content: "this portion just clarifies that the platforms are responsible to obey the federal law, but that they won't automatically be dragged into litigation between a child and the child's parents," she said, adding the change focuses on protecting children27s financial interests when content creators are minors.

Representative Greg described the amendment to HCS HB 19-48 as a technical correction changing an administrative reference: the language was updated from the Family Support Division to the Department of Social Services at the department27s request.

HB 26-88 drew the most sustained debate. Representative Manser said the committee27s prior presentation left open "what due process would actually mean" for preborn persons and warned the bill could create "a risky environment for women and a really kind of risky dangerous environment for OB-GYNs to practice in the state of Missouri." Representative Jamieson argued the measure could have broad practical and constitutional consequences and said it "will affect hundreds of statutes, will affect millions of Missourians," raising hypotheticals about in vitro fertilization and miscarriage investigations.

Supporters framed HB 26-88 as a measure to protect preborn life and urged further legal work to address interlocking statutes. After debate the clerk recorded a committee vote of 12 yes and 5 no to recommend HB 26-88 do pass.

What comes next: all three measures now carry committee recommendations to the full House for further action. The committee then moved to public hearings on unrelated child- and family-focused bills.

Votes at a glance

- HCS HB 18: Committee substitute adopted and reported do pass (roll call 17-0). - HCS HB 19-48: Committee substitute adopted and reported do pass (roll call 17-0). - HB 26-88: Reported do pass on roll call 12-5.

Committee members quoted in this article appear in the committee record as Representative Lobinger, Representative Greg, Representative Manser and Representative Jamieson.

The committee adjourned and proceeded to public hearings later in the session.