Barefoot And Pregnant

Missouri AG tells judge reducing teen pregnancies would hurt state financiallyhttps://t.co/XApzDWEDBe

— Raw Story (@RawStory) October 22, 2024

Missouri’s attorney general has renewed a push to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, arguing in a lawsuit filed this month that its availability hurt the state by decreasing teenage pregnancy. 

The revised lawsuit was filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, alongside GOP attorneys general in Kansas and Idaho. It asks a judge in Texas to order the Federal Drug Administration to reinstate restrictions on mifepristone, one of two medications prescribed to induce chemical abortions. 

The trio of attorneys general were forced to refile the litigation after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the original lawsuit after concluding the original plaintiffs — a group of anti-abortion doctors and medical organizations — did not have standing to sue because they couldn’t show they had been harmed. 

In making the case that the states have standing this time, the attorneys general contend access to mifepristone has lowered “birth rates for teenaged mothers,” arguing it contributes to causing a population loss for the states along with “diminishment of political representation and loss of federal funds.” 

“Younger women are more likely to navigate online abortion finders or websites ordering mail-order medication to self-manage abortions,” the filing argues. 

Missouri’s teen pregnancy birth rate has steadily declined over the past several years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though it still remains among the highest in the country

I wanna see Ken Paxton use this argument when he finally finds a DA who will prosecute a woman for leaving the state to get an abortion.

“But judge, the white women ain’t makin’ enough babies as it is! At this rate we might see our population decline! Hell, we only count Messicans now ‘cause them damn federals tell us we have to! Tain’t fit ‘n’ proper, judge! We gotta keep our womenfolk barefoot and pregnant for the sake of our place in the ‘lectral college! So we can keep demoncrats outta the White House!”

Yeah, Missouri’s argument is literally the worst argument for state interest and standing I have ever seen.