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Senate sends anti-abortion bill to governor

By KELLY WIESE
Associated Press Writer

Saturday, May 19, 2007

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican senators delivered an anti-abortion bill to the governor’s desk Friday that critics claim could force some clinics to quit offering abortions.

Besides imposing new government oversight of abortion clinics, the bill also bars people affiliated with abortion providers from teaching sex education courses, allows schools to offer abstinence-only programs and puts into law an existing alternatives-to-abortion grant program.

The Republican-led Senate employed a procedural move, with just a few hours remaining in the legislative session, to shut off debate after less than an hour and force a vote on the bill.

The Senate then passed the bill 24-9. The House had passed the bill 101-48 last month, so it now heads to Republican Gov. Matt Blunt, who said Friday that he looked forward to signing it into law.

“Missouri has again sent a strong message that we value the dignity of all human life and will continue to pass laws that will reduce the number of abortions in our state,” Blunt said in a written statement.

Planned Parenthood affiliates claimed Friday that the added regulations for abortion clinics could force its Kansas City and Columbia facilities to quit offering abortions, leaving them available only at its St. Louis clinic.

“This is a terrible day for the health and safety of Missouri women,” said Peter Brownlie, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

The bill designates facilities that perform any second- or third-trimester abortions or more than five first-trimester abortions a month as “ambulatory surgical centers.” That makes them subject to increased regulation by the Department of Health and Senior Services.

Opponents say that could require clinics to spend $500,000 to upgrade, even if all they do is provide emergency contraception pills, so most will quit offering them.

The measure also gives schools the option of teaching — and potentially getting federal funding for — an abstinence-only curriculum.

Critics said that change actually could result in more abortions because young women lacking complete information could end up pregnant.

“This bill will lead to more abortions in Missouri,” said Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, who is generally anti-abortion but voted against the bill Friday.

The bill also bars Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from teaching or providing materials for school sex education courses.

The measure puts into law the Missouri Alternatives to Abortion Services Program. The state already funds the program, which provides money to nonprofit groups that encourage women to deliver their babies.

The bill specifically excludes family planning services from being funded through the abortion alternatives’ grants. The Senate defeated a change that would have allowed, but not required, groups to discuss birth control.

The Senate had debated anti-abortion legislation earlier this year and ran into opposition from abortion rights supporters. The Legislature has a strong anti-abortion majority, including many Democrats.

Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, said she tried to negotiate with bill supporters but got nowhere. In particular, she called for dropping the abstinence-only provision and scaling back the surgical clinic language to cover only those that perform surgical abortions.

Republican sponsor Sen. Delbert Scott said the debate was about a topic far more important than political negotiations.

“We know this blob is not just a blob. It’s a life. That’s why we’re here today,” said Scott, R-Lowry City.

The motion Friday to halt debate and immediately vote marked just the ninth bill on which the procedural maneuver has been successfully used in the Senate since 1970, with five of those coming since Republicans took control of the Senate in 2001.

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Abortion bill is HB1055.

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov

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