JEFFERSON CITY – The sanctity of human life gained another foothold in Missouri July 14 when Gov. Jay Nixon chose not to veto a pro-life law.
The newly enacted law applies tighter restrictions to the abortion of viable unborn infants who have reached 20 weeks of gestation.
The legislation resulted from bills sponsored by House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Timothy Jones, R-Eureka, and President Pro Tem of the Senate Rob Mayer, R-Dexter. Both bills were passed by overwhelming majorities during the 2011 General Assembly.
July 14 was the governor’s deadline to either veto the legislation or allow it to become law.
The governor was heavily lobbied by taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood, America’s largest provider of abortions, during the 45 days in which he could have issued a veto, but the legislation had passed the House and Senate with such large majorities that a veto would likely have been overturned.
Kerry Messer, lobbyist for Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Christian Life Commission, said he is very proud of the state legislature for proving itself consistent on the pro-life front.
He explained that legislators have taken an incremental approach on the whole abortion issue.
“The pro-abortion community wants to criticize the pro-life community and legislators for ‘playing games’ with the issue,” he stated. “They say there are relatively few late-term abortions in Missouri and, therefore, this legislation is of little importance.”
He noted that some members of the pro-life community are also critical of the incremental approach but the strategy is necessary.
“We are striving to change the cultural mindset regarding the sanctity of life. That requires an incremental approach,” he explained. “We work on this long string of bills over a period of several years to chip away at the pro-abortion culture.
“Secondly, the US Supreme Court has given states the right to restrict abortion, but only within limited parameters.”
Messer said the only way to effectively advance the pro-life legislative agenda is to take one step at a time, then step back to measure how the courts respond.
“Each step of this journey is very important, especially to each group of unborn children who survive the womb.”
Messer gave credit to other pro-life organizations which cooperated with MBC in the successful legislative effort. These included Missouri Family Policy Council, Missouri Catholic Conference, Sam Lee and the Missouri Campaign for Life, Missouri Right to Life, several other organizations, and members of the House and Senate.
BARBARA SHOUN/contributing writer