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Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser heard arguments Thursday in a case brought by clergy challenging Missouri’s abortion ban.(Robert Cohen, Post-Dispatch | Pool photo by Robert Cohen, St. Louis Post-Dispatch) ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – More than a year after Missouri’s near-total ban on abortion went into effect, oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by several religious leaders seeking to strike it down were heard Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court. Missouri implemented a ban on the procedure with no exceptions for rape or incest following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning in June 2022 of Roe. Vs. Wade. Prior to that legislation, lawmakers for years had enacted various restriction on the procedure, all but eliminating abortion in the state. In Traci Blackmon vs. Missouri, the petitioners, made up of 13 Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders who support abortion, argue the state’s ban from the moment of fertilization violates the Establishment Clause of the Missouri Constitution. The state, whose motion for a judgment on the pleadings was the reason for the Thursday hearing, argues the law is secular. The petitioners argue several lawmakers invoked their religious beliefs during debate. Those beliefs are not held by all faiths, the petitioners argue, citing […]