ST. LOUIS — More than a dozen faith leaders filed suit Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban, arguing state legislators acted based on their personal religious beliefs and violated the separation of church and state protected in Missouri’s Constitution.
The faith leaders, from St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia, represent several Protestant and Jewish denominations. They partnered with the National Women’s Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State in drafting the suit.
“What these abortion restrictions do is enshrine into law the particular narrow religious beliefs of the state officials who enacted these laws, and it forces all of us to live by these narrow beliefs,” said Michelle Banker, the NWLC’s director of reproductive rights and health.
