Abortion, gun issues familiar problems for Holden, lawmakers

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Abortion and concealed guns. The two topics, laden with emotion and controversy, have significantly affected governors and the legislature over the years.

Points of view on the two issues cross party lines, and this year has been no different.

Lawmakers have sent Democratic Gov. Bob Holden both a bill requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortion and a measure that would allow qualified Missourians to carry concealed guns. In the House, 33 Democrats joined 83 Republicans in voting for the abortion measure, which was opposed by 32 Democrats and two Republicans.

Holden has vowed to veto both bills, although there is no indication when he might do so. Generally, governors issue their veto messages in July.

"I think, in the area of abortion, that should be an individual decision, and I think the government should stay out of it," Holden said in an interview. "With concealed weapons, the people of Missouri have already spoken."

In 1998, then-Gov. Mel Carnahan threatened to veto a concealed-gun measure pending in the legislature. Lawmakers, taking matters into their own hands, passed legislation that put the question before Missouri's voters.

In April 1999, that measure failed in a statewide vote -- largely because of opposition to it in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

That same year, a bill banning certain types of late-term abortions was passed by lawmakers and vetoed by Carnahan. Lawmakers returned that fall and took the unusual step of overriding Carnahan's veto.

'Forced to choose'

Holden's threat to veto this year's abortion and concealed-guns bills could put proponents to the test to come up with the two-third majorities needed in both chambers to override the governor's action.

"This has put him in a position where he is being forced to choose between huge bipartisan majorities in each case and his own narrow ideology," said Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau.

"In the next election, he will find out that Missouri is a pro-life state and that his party is being ruined in about 90 counties that support concealed weapons," Kinder added.

While many outside the Democratic Party think Holden could be damaged if he vetoed a bill and then were overridden, Holden adviser Roy Temple sees things differently.

"These are issues where a person has to do what they think is right and let the political chips fall where they may," Temple said. "You can't get into the calculus of, 'Is this a winner or a loser?"'

The concealed guns issue has been especially hard on Senate Democrats. One of their own -- Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler -- supported the bill and employed a rarely used parliamentary maneuver to halt debate and force a vote.

Sen. Ken Jacob, who in his 20-year legislative career has opposed restrictions on abortion and looser gun laws, said the approach to the issues this year has been far different than in the past.

Term limits have created more turnover in the Senate, eroding traditions and creating more animosity, said Jacob, D-Columbia.

And with both the House and Senate under their control for the first time more than 50 years, he said, Republicans are pushing such issues as the guns and abortion measures.

"They are trying to make up for lost time," Jacob said.

In the House, Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell said the debates on guns and abortion were shaped less by politics than by strong personal convictions.

"I don't think it has anything to do with the legislators' personal stake or the governor's personal stake. This is about what is best for the state of Missouri," said Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau. "If we have an honest difference of opinion, we have an honest difference of opinion."