Read-Katz was 16 weeks pregnant when she learned that her child had a 10 percent chance of having Trisomy 18, a chromosomal defect that few infants survive past birth.

After an amniocentesis confirmed the diagnosis, her doctor told her that the child would know only a short life of suffering. Read-Katz decided to terminate her pregnancy.

Read-Katz was living in Texas at the time. Although Texas has a 24-hour waiting period, she had to wait two weeks while her doctor petitioned the ethics board to allow the abortion at her Christian hospital.

“Waiting has zero impact on women. Once they’ve made the decision, they’ve already thought about it for a lot longer than 72 hours,” Read-Katz said. “No woman wants to have an abortion. They do it because they need to. The only thing a waiting period does is makes the woman hurt more and for longer, emotionally and physically.”

Read-Katz recalled that during her two-week wait, people asked her on a daily basis when her child was due, or whether she would be giving birth to a boy or a girl.

Three years later, House Bill 1307 appeared in the Missouri legislature.  The bill aimed to extend the time between a woman’s initial meeting with the abortion provider and the procedure from 24 hours to 72 hours. The 72-hour period would include no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. The bill passed in the House by a vote of 111-39, and it passed in the Senate 22-9.

In July, Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the bill.

As it stands now, Missouri law requires that physicians offer women literature on the risks of the procedure and abortion alternatives, including printed materials that “prominently display the following statement: ‘The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being.’”

The physician must also provide the opportunity for women to view an ultrasound, although they are not required to do so. Women must then wait 24 hours before they can give their consent to go through with the procedure.

Extending the wait period to 72 hours would allow women more time to consider all of the information given upon the initial meeting, said Rep. Kevin Elmer, R-Nixa, sponsor of House Bill 1307. Elmer based his bill on the laws of two other states — Utah and South Dakota — that require women to wait 72 hours before an abortion.

The states implemented their laws too recently for statistics on these laws’ effects to be available. However, Dina van der Zalm, volunteer and former legislative intern for Planned Parenthood in Columbia, said she would be cautious of these figures, regardless.

Missouri has one abortion clinic in St. Louis, but van der Zalm said that some women travel to abortion clinics in other states, such as the one in Overland Park, Kan., near Kansas City. Women who opt to receive their abortions in other states will skew the statistics and conclusions drawn from them, van der Zalm said.

“Women have the choice to take all the time they want, but mandating a 72-hour wait increases the economic and emotional burden on women, even more so if they are juggling work schedules and childcare,” van der Zalm said.

Susan Klein, legislative liaison for Missouri Right to Life, sees the wait time as beneficial rather than burdensome.

“When a woman is in a crisis situation, it’s good to reflect on this decision. It’s going to take the life of an innocent child,” Klein said. “On Sept. 10, we’re going to be around to protect those innocent little lives.”

Klein is part of the anti-abortion advocacy groups hosting a #ShowMeLife rally and prayer vigil at the Capitol steps on Wednesday, the first day of the veto session. The groups are confident that the veto will be overturned. In fact, the groups have already scheduled a victory celebration rally for 4 p.m. Wednesday on the Capitol steps.

Read-Katz shared her story on the state Capitol steps in May during a filibuster sponsored by activists, and she plans to be back in Jefferson City on Wednesday to participate in another rally. The Stand With Missouri Women Rally was organized by a coalition of Missouri groups including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The vote to override Nixon’s veto is scheduled for Wednesday. The #ShowMeLife rally will be at noon at the Capitol Rotunda, and the Stand With Missouri Women Rally will begin at 11 a.m. at the state Capitol.