Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law July 6 a bill that further regulates abortion and promotes alternatives to abortion.

HB 1055 also stops abortion providers from offering sex education in public schools. The bill became effective Aug. 28.

"We are pleased that the governor has supported this legislation and has signed the bill into law," said Deacon Larry Weber, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state's bishops. "HB 1055 will go a long way toward ensuring that women have access to the services they need to encourage them not to have abortions and (toward) regulating the activities of abortion providers."

Under the bill, the state's Alternatives to Abortion Program will become a permanent fixture in Missouri.

The program provides services during pregnancy and for one year after the birth of the child. Services include prenatal care, medical and mental health care, parenting skills, newborn and infant care, education services, housing, clothing, food, supplies related to pregnancy, newborn care and parenting and adoption assistance.

Catholic Charities of St. Louis is among a group of faith-based agencies that offer those services.

The law also will stop abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood from providing sex education in Missouri schools. It allows school districts to choose between abstinence-only and other types of sex education programs, provided that the programs do not incorporate instruction or materials provided by abortion providers. Grade schools and high schools also will be prohibited from referring girls for abortions.

Abortion clinics also will be further regulated under the law. Clinics that perform five or more first-trimester, or any second- or third-trimester abortions a month will be required to become licensed as ambulatory surgical centers.

Clinics will be required to provide standard medical services, such as having CPR-trained personnel on site and a physician on the premises and immediately available to the patient in the recovery room. Clinics also will be open to inspection from the Department of Health and Senior Services during normal business hours.

This article originally appeared in the July 13 edition of the St. Louis Review, weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.