The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

State News

Discussion

April 24, 2007

Missouri: House passes new abortion regulations



The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The House passed legislation Monday that would subject abortion clinics to more-stringent regulations, a move that critics claim would make it harder for women to get abortions in Missouri.

The overwhelming 101-48 House vote came on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court delivered another victory for abortion opponents, overturning appeals court decisions that had struck down Missouri and Virginia laws banning a certain late-term abortion procedure.

The Supreme Court ordered appellate courts to reconsider the state laws in light of its own ruling last week upholding a federal law prohibiting what opponents call partial-birth abortion.

Missouri Right to Life said the federal law used similar language as the 1999 Missouri law, which was placed on hold by a federal judge the day after the Legislature enacted it by overriding a gubernatorial veto.

In response to the Supreme Court’s order, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to lift its injunction against the state’s law. That would allow it to immediately take effect.

“Missouri’s ban on partial birth abortion has already spent too much time in the courts and I am hopeful the 8th Circuit will act soon, follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s lead, and affirm Missouri’s ban of this barbaric procedure,” said Gov. Matt Blunt, who voted for the ban as a House member.

Missouri has a strong anti-abortion majority in the Legislature, which is pushing a several-prong bill that increases state oversight of abortion providers and bans them from teaching or distributing materials for school sex education courses.

The legislation also would give public school districts the option of teaching an abstinence-only sex education course. Under current law, sex education courses also must include information about contraception.

House passage of the legislation sends it to the Senate, where a similar bill is pending.

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

Missouri Right to Life said the intent is to make sure abortion clinics are safe.

But the effect could be to end abortions at Columbia and Kansas City clinics, leaving a St. Louis facility as the only Planned Parenthood site still eligible to provide abortions, said Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region.

“The last several years, we have seen more and more restrictions and hurdles and obstacles and burdens put in front of women, while simultaneously we have fewer and fewer providers” of abortion services, Gianino said.

Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic is the state’s only licensed abortion clinic, because it derives more than half its patients or revenues from abortion services, said Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Nanci Gonder.

The Planned Parenthood office in Columbia offers abortions on only two half days a month, while the Kansas City office offers abortions through medication one day a week, Gianino said.

If they became regulated as surgical centers, they would become subject to health department staffing requirements and building and equipment inspections, among other things, Gonder said.

Some legislative critics said the provision does not differentiate between surgical and medical abortions, which are initiated by a prescription drug administered by a doctor. Some Democrats said it did not make sense to regulate a facility that administers a pill to the same degree as one that performs a surgical procedure.

Besides offering abortions, Planned Parenthood also has about a half-dozen Missouri instructors who teach sex education when invited by schools. The organization also provides books, pamphlets and videotapes to some schools.

Some abortion opponents fear Planned Parenthood could use the school courses as a hook to get young women to their abortion clinics.

Rep. Cynthia Davis was among advocating for an abstinence-only education. She said students need to be taught that actions other than sexual intercourse also can cause problems.

“I’m tired of the women being victimized by the men and this conspiracy to push contraception on the women so that we’ll be available,” said Davis, R-O’Fallon.

But allowing schools to not instruct students about contraception won’t reduce teenage sex, just harm teenage health, said Rep. Beth Low, D-Kansas City.

“Ignorance is not a form of birth control,” Low said. “Ignorance will not protect our children from sexually transmitted disease.”

Text Only
State News
  • Lions climb into share of MIAA men's basketball lead

    Without taking the floor, Missouri Southern has climbed into a first-place tie in the MIAA men’s basketball race.

    February 22, 2012

  • 2.6 magnitude earthquake recorded in Oklahoma

    The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded a 2.6 magnitude earthquake near Wellston in central Oklahoma.
    No injuries or damage is reported.

    January 19, 2011

  • Audit: $108,000 taken from Missouri Veterans Commission JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A former employee of the state auditor’s office embezzled nearly $108,000 while working as an accountant for the Missouri Veterans Commission, the state auditor alleged Monday.

    Stacy Griffin-Lowery was fired by the Veterans Commission in March 2008 and pleaded guilty three months later to a misdemeanor theft charge. She repaid the state $17,665, the auditor’s office said.

    But Missouri Auditor Susan Montee on Monday accused Griffin-Lowery of swiping an additional $90,192 by getting reimbursed for cash advances and purchases made on her personal credit card.

    April 12, 2010

  • Race in Kansas’ 2nd District could heat up for GOP incumbent TOPEKA, Kan. — A conservative Kansas legislator said Monday he will announce in a few weeks whether he will challenge freshman U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins in the Republican primary.

    State Sen. Dennis Pyle’s actions in recent months suggest the Hiawatha farmer, who’s served in the Legislature since 2001, is running against Jenkins in the Aug. 2 primary. He set up a campaign organization in November and has a Web site featuring a brief video of him on his farm, asking viewers for support.

    April 12, 2010

  • Oklahoma tea party leaders, lawmakers envision militia OKLAHOMA CITY — Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.

    Tea party movement leaders say they’ve discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force

    April 12, 2010

  • Missouri: Senate panel cuts $500 million from proposed budget JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Senate committee declared Thursday that it has sliced more than $500 million from Missouri’s proposed budget for next year — meeting a target set by Gov. Jay Nixon to bring it in balance.

    April 8, 2010

  • Kansas: Wichita-area casino in doubt after governor’s decision TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposed casino south of Wichita was in doubt Thursday after Gov. Mark Parkinson refused to grant its developers a regulatory reprieve. Partners in the $225 million Chisholm Creek project wanted to delay a state board’s decision on their plans.

    April 8, 2010

  • Oklahoma: Groups oppose education spending initiative OKLAHOMA CITY — A coalition of business and labor groups said Thursday it will work to defeat a ballot initiative to dramatically increase spending on public education that coalition members said would devastate the budgets of many other state services and possibly force tax increases.

    April 8, 2010

  • Missouri: Gov. Nixon affirms support for tuition freeze COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has no plans to sit idly while lawmakers consider whether to preserve a tuition freeze deal he assembled before the state’s dire financial status was fully known.

    April 7, 2010

  • Kansas: Agency uses YouTube to illustrate road woes TOPEKA, Kan. — It’s one thing to hear about potholes and state budgets. It’s another to see how the two are connected. That’s part of the thinking behind a new video presentation on YouTube this week from the Kansas Department of Transportation.

    April 7, 2010