A Missouri Republican has introduced a federal abortion ban in the House

[ResidentialBusiness]

Republican Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri has introduced a new bill, the Life at Conception Act, which proposes a federal ban on abortion.

The full text of the bill is not yet available, but a press release this week from his office notes, “This landmark legislation declares that unborn children are ‘persons’ under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing their right to life to be legally recognized and protected.”

At a time when Republicans are seeking to narrow the definition of who is a citizen under the 14th Amendment by eliminating birthright citizenship, they are also using the 14th Amendment to extend personhood to fetuses—an indication of who is and isn’t considered a person with rights according to GOP philosophy.

“I am proud to introduce the Life at Conception Act, which reaffirms the original intent of the 14th Amendment by declaring that the term ‘person’ includes all human beings from the moment of conception . . . It is a scientific fact that life begins at conception,” Burlinson wrote on his Facebook page.

Personhood for a fetus, however, may come at the cost of personhood for a mother. Abortion bans have been linked with delays in medical treatment for women who are miscarrying, deaths in cases of risky pregnancies, as well as the increased criminalization of pregnant women.

Even in cases where a mother’s life is not at stake, abortion bans can impact the quality of medical care—for both women and the communities they live in. According to a 2023 study, states with abortion bans are seeing fewer applications from medical students for residency programs, particularly OB/GYN residency programs.

Applications for OB/GYN residencies dropped by 6.7% in states with abortion bans but increased by 0.4% in states without restrictions. In a 2024 study, 11% of oby-gyns said they left states with abortion bans, while their colleagues who stayed described struggling with larger workloads and to hire replacements.

Burlison bill currently has 68 cosponsors. It would need a majority of votes to pass (218 of 435) and move to the Senate. If it were to move to the Senate, it would need 51 votes out of 100 to pass. However, if the bill got filibustered, it would need 60 out of 100 votes to pass. Currently, Republicans hold 53 out of 100 votes in the Senate.

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