Fact Check: Is Plan B banned in Missouri?

In the wake of the potential overturning of the historic 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that would make abortion illegal, there is widespread fear that the ban would extend to Plan B in Missouri and Tennessee.Politico posted a leaked version of the Supreme Court draft opinion on May 2. The leak led to continual discourse about predominantly Republican states like Missouri and Tennessee's &quot;trigger laws&quot; that would immediately ban or restrict abortion should Roe be overturned. This prompted a flurry of social media posts peddling the claim that Missouri would ban emergency contraceptives like the morning-after pill. This article investigates the credibility of this claim.How did the rumor of Missouri banning Plan B start?On May 8, several Facebook posts cropped up with some variation of the following caption:&quot;They just banned Plan B's in Missouri.&quot;One of these posts was reshared over 200 times, rapidly spreading the claim of banning contraceptive pills. This interpretation, albeit misleading, stems from a Missouri Senate Committee advancing a resolution on May 10 that enacts a trigger law the state passed in 2019.Missouri's trigger law, cited as the 'Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act' or 'Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act,' bans abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, making an exception only for “cases of a medical emergency.” The bill declares using abortion-inducing devices or drugs a Class B felony, punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison.The claims started gaining more traction as they were backed by more credible sources like former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who tweeted on May 3:&quot;In [Missouri] the moment Roe falls, law will dictate the following: life begins at conception, all termination of that life..even morning after pill, IUD will be illegal. No exceptions for rape or incest.&quot;Podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen also echoed the same in his tweet dated May 9:&quot;Missouri will automatically ban Plan B if Roe is overturned.&quot;Claire McCaskill@clairecmcIn MO the moment Roe falls, law will dictate the following: life begins at conception, all termination of that life..even morning after pill, IUD will be illegal. No exceptions for rape or incest. And makes docs helping families have a baby thru IVF subject to criminal charges.243559493In MO the moment Roe falls, law will dictate the following: life begins at conception, all termination of that life..even morning after pill, IUD will be illegal. No exceptions for rape or incest. And makes docs helping families have a baby thru IVF subject to criminal charges.No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen@NoLieWithBTCMissouri will automatically ban Plan B if Roe is overturned.Louisiana is voting to make the use of an IUD murder.Republican senators like Marsha Blackburn and Senate candidates like Blake Masters (AZ) have now come out against the 1965 court decision legalizing contraception.183408246Missouri will automatically ban Plan B if Roe is overturned.Louisiana is voting to make the use of an IUD murder.Republican senators like Marsha Blackburn and Senate candidates like Blake Masters (AZ) have now come out against the 1965 court decision legalizing contraception.Does Missouri's 2019 trigger law ban Plan B?Pro-Choice Missouri@ProChoice_MOJust the facts: Current Missouri abortion law does NOT jeopardize #BirthControl (like IUDs), Emergency Contraception (EC or&quot;Plan B&quot;) or fertility care (IVF), and neither do any of the bans we're currently watching in #MoLeg.4210Just the facts: Current Missouri abortion law does NOT jeopardize #BirthControl (like IUDs), Emergency Contraception (EC or&quot;Plan B&quot;) or fertility care (IVF), and neither do any of the bans we're currently watching in #MoLeg.Several legal experts and pro-choice advocacy organizations debunked this claim as false, stating that Missouri's 2019 trigger law does not ban Plan B. They reasoned that the morning after pill as an emergency contraceptive aimed to prevent pregnancy rather than terminate it.Sidney Watson, Director of the Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University School of Law, told FactCheck.org:“Missouri’s 2019 abortion law, House Bill 126, has a trigger provision that immediately goes into effect if the governor or the attorney general certify that Roe v Wade has been overturned. HB 126 regulates abortion, the termination of a pregnancy. It does not regulate methods of contraception like Plan B, which prevent pregnancy. The law specifically defines abortion as ‘termination of the pregnancy.'”Planned Parenthood@PPSLR(2/3) Birth control does not meet the criteria for the definition of abortion under MO law. Since birth control prevents pregnancy (and does not end an existing pregnancy), overturning #Roe will not block access to birth control.226(2/3) Birth control does not meet the criteria for the definition of abortion under MO law. Since birth control prevents pregnancy (and does not end an existing pregnancy), overturning #Roe will not block access to birth control.Marcia McCormick, a law professor at Saint Louis University, concurred:&quot;The short answer is that Missouri has no current law in effect that would ban Plan B, and the law that is set to go into effect if the Supreme Court reverses Roe v Wade does not name [it] or other emergency contraception as prohibited.&quot;The confusion arose since Missouri's bill stipulates that &quot;life begins at conception.&quot; However, a 1989 Supreme Court decision ruled that this statement is a “value judgment,” not an enforceable part of the law. This ruling will still stand if Roe gets overturned and the trigger law comes into effect.

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