Lawmakers to tackle abortion measures

The Missouri Senate will work without stopping for as long as it takes to pass abortion restrictions in the upcoming special session, the chamber's top Republican said Friday.

Senate President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, said he discussed strategy to divide the work for the session with House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill. The Senate will be the first to take up the abortion restrictions sought by Gov. Matt Blunt, Gibbons said.

Lawmakers will convene Sept. 6. Blunt chose that date because it is when legislators would already be in Jefferson City to debate whether to override any vetoes.

Gibbons made his remarks during an interview at the Southeast Missourian. He said he is visiting towns around the state to explain legislative issues and listen to voters.

The first two days of the session will be consumed by the routine business of introducing bills and assigning them to committees. By Thursday, Gibbons said, measures should be ready for debate.

"We are going to stay on until we are done," he said.

Abortion measures should be the most controversial acts of the legislative session.

Blunt wants lawmakers to pass a law making it a crime for doctors to perform abortions if they do not have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic. He also wants to prohibit anyone from helping a minor avoid parental consent to get an abortion.

Lawmakers debated those issues during the regular session, but the bill failed because of disagreements over attempts to restrict or ban the use of embryonic stem cells in research.

"We were unable to pass it because of a fight between pro-life special interest groups," Gibbons said. "Missouri Right-to-Life was against the bill, and the Missouri Catholic Conference was for it."

That disagreement scuttled the measure during the session's final days because lawmakers were pressured to pass other bills, Gibbons said. "It was just a very bizarre situation."

By avoiding the stem-cell issue, he said, the only obstacle to passage will be a handful of pro-choice supporters.

The ban on helping minors get an abortion is a common-sense proposal and a matter of parental control, Gibbons said.

"You can't get a tattoo in Missouri if you are a minor without parental consent," he said. "Why would we tolerate anyone taking a child to Illinois for an abortion without parental consent?"

Other issues before the legislature during the special session will clean up drafting errors in a number of bills, including the workers' compensation bill and alcohol-control measures.

For lawmakers next year, Gibbons said, the key issues will be Medicaid and an attempt to tackle the tax code.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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