“Americans United for Life applauds Judge Burnett for allowing Missouri’s 72-hour reflection period to go into effect over Planned Parenthood’s protestations. Many states require 72-hour reflection periods for other important decisions, such as applying for a marriage license, signing a mortgage, and placing a child with a loving family through adoption.
Abortion is a life-changing and life-ending decision, and one that the Supreme Court has recognized many women come to regret later in life. This reflection time gives women more time to talk to their families and partners about parenting and adoption, and to gain the support and resources they need to pursue those alternatives.
In addition to allowing women more time to consider their options, we also have to acknowledge that there are women being coerced into abortion by partners, as well as by sex traffickers. The 72-hour reflection period gives these at-risk women the time they desperately need in order to seek the help necessary to protect themselves and their unborn children from coercion.”
