Hundreds of abortion rights proponents gathered at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City Sunday to voice their anger with the Missouri legislature, which passed one of the nation's strongest abortion bills last week.
The bill heads to the desk of Gov. Mike Parson, who has said he will sign it into law.
The bill would ban abortions beyond eight weeks of pregnancy, with an exception for medical emergencies, but with no exceptions for cases involving rape or incest.
Sharon Ortega was among the people protesting at Plaza. She said she remembers a time before the Supreme Court's Roe V. Wade decision, which effectively made abortion legal."Their only option was a back alley abortion, or to be ostracized or to marry," Ortega said. "That's three bad choices. I remember it. I don't want to see that again."
Hundreds chanted, "My body, my choice."
"It is really restrictive, obviously, and people don't even know that they're pregnant at that point," said Amy Appleton Dreyer, another protestor.
Gov. Parson has until July 14 to sign the bill, but he is expected to ratify it within a week.
