JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Now a look at what's next in Missouri, where voters approved an amendment to legalize abortion. It is a deep red state politically with one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, and Missourians voted to do away with it. St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum joins us now from Missouri's capital, Jefferson City. Hey there.
JASON ROSENBAUM, BYLINE: Hey, Juana. Thanks for having me today.
SUMMERS: Thanks for being here. So, Jason, there were 10 states voting on abortion rights on Tuesday, but the vote in Missouri, where there is a near-total ban, really stood out to me. What has the reaction been?
ROSENBAUM: First, a little bit of how we got here. Missouri banned almost all abortions after Roe v. Wade fell. There's no exceptions for rape or incest, just medical emergencies. So voters here legalized abortion up to what's known as fetal viability, which is around 24 weeks of pregnancy. For abortion rights supporters, it's a mix of euphoria and skepticism. Getting this amendment passed was not easy, especially - as you mentioned, this is a state that Donald Trump won by 18 percentage points. But Richard Muniz of the St. Louis area branch of Planned Parenthood says Tuesday's result shows the Missouri GOP went too far with their ban.
RICHARD MUNIZ: It tells us that the politicians in Jefferson City are out of touch with the voters, who clearly did not want a total abortion ban, who clearly thought the ban was cruel and inhumane and wanted something better for the state.
ROSENBAUM: At the same time, abortion rights backers are staying vigilant since Republicans control all of state government in Missouri.
SUMMERS: Right. And I know, Jason, that you've been talking with some of those Republican leaders. What are you hearing? Are they planning to fight this somehow?
ROSENBAUM: So because this is a constitutional amendment, GOP lawmakers in Jefferson City can't just come back into session and repeal it. They would have to put something else up for a statewide vote. Republicans, though, have guaranteed - have not guaranteed that they're going to let this go for good. Here's what incoming Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin told me today when I asked if the GOP will do anything to counteract the passage of the abortion legalization amendment, maybe with another amendment in a couple of years.
CINDY O'LAUGHLIN: We will look at what has happened, and we will be discussing it, and we will - we have a caucus next week. And we'll talk about, you know, are there alternatives? What are those alternatives? And how do we go about addressing it?
ROSENBAUM: Now, that being said, incoming Republican House Speaker Jon Patterson says that lawmakers here should respect the will of the people.
SUMMERS: A question about the practical implications here. How soon will medical providers be able to provide abortion care in Missouri?
ROSENBAUM: On Wednesday, the state's Planned Parenthood affiliates took the first step filing a lawsuit to overturn the abortion laws still on the books. They're hoping that a judge will strike down these laws that - by the time the amendment goes into effect, which is on December 5. Whether things actually go that quickly, though, is unclear. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is strongly against abortion rights and may try to prevent the laws from falling quickly, but the constitutional language here is not ambiguous. It calls for an end to the ban and other abortion restrictions.
SUMMERS: Jason, big-picture question here. It looks like a whole lot of Missouri voters - they voted yes on abortion rights, but then they voted for Donald Trump and Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who was reelected. They have track records in office for opposing abortion rights. What explains that?
ROSENBAUM: Oh, Missouri shows definitively that ballot initiatives, at least this one, did not help Democratic candidates. But I also think the result shows pretty conclusively that strict abortion bans are not universally popular among Republicans. That can mean two things. One is that there are more Republicans who support abortion rights than people think. And two, a total ban is beyond the pale even for Republicans since almost 250,000 or 300,000 Trump voters voted to legalize abortion here.
SUMMERS: Jason Rosenbaum from St. Louis Public Radio. Thanks so much.
ROSENBAUM: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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