Pro-Choice victory is good news for Missouri women
The last gavel of the 2008 Missouri Legislative Session marked a major victory for the women of Missouri: the first time in five years the General Assembly did not pass further restrictions on access to safe, legal abortion care. In spite of an ambitious agenda set by the anti-choice lobby at the beginning of the session, not a single anti-woman bill was sent to the governor’s desk. HB1831, sponsored by Rep. Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis), would have criminalized abortions for many women under the guise of “protecting them.” Provisions of the bill creating the crime of “coercing an abortion” sought not only to place politicians squarely in the doctor’s office, but also at kitchen tables and in the middle of pillow talk. Had 1831 passed, families having mere conversations about the possibility of an abortion would have been charged with the misdemeanor of “coercing an abortion.” Doctors would have been forced to certify certain women seeking abortion care as incompetent to consent to their own care and turn them away, or be charged with a Class C felony. In the final days of the legislative session, however, the reality of the consequences of declaring women incompetent and criminalizing certain abortions was seen as too extreme for even the anti-choice majority of the state senate and the bill was never brought to a vote. The success of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, our allies in the legislature, and our hard-working membership base in prevailing against the anti-choice agenda, comes on the heels of our work to defeat efforts to place an initiative banning abortions on the November ballot. With these extreme and fool-hardy attempts by the radical right to control Missouri women out of the picture for now, our work to guarantee pro-choice gains in the legislature this year will begin in full force. Now we begin our vital work of protecting our pro-choice incumbents and electing new pro-choice legislators. Watch for our voter’s guide!
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