OVERRIDE PROMISED: LAWMAKERS WON'T BACK GOVERNOR ON BILL

Several Southeast Missouri lawmakers say they will vote to override Gov. Mel Carnahan's veto of a bill that outlaws partial-birth abortions.

But some of the region's Democratic lawmakers believe the bill is flawed. Still, they said they likely would vote to override their own governor because the legislation is popular with voters.

"I will probably take the coward's way out and vote to override," said state Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence.

State Reps. Rep. Joe Heckemeyer, D-Sikeston, and Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, said they too likely would vote to override the veto even though they have serious concerns about the bill.

Heckemeyer said the issue has become so mired in politics that lawmakers have little choice but to vote for the override.

The veto session is set for Sept. 10 and 11, and will come on the heels of a special session called by the governor.

The special session begins Sept. 8. Carnahan called the session, asking lawmakers to consider reviving parts of a vetoed economic development bill and allowing Branson's voters to reimpose a tax on tourists.

State Sen. Peter Kinder's bill to outlaw partial-birth abortions passed both the House and Senate by wide margins in the regular legislative session this spring.

But Carnahan vetoed the measure. He argued it was unconstitutional because it didn't allow an exception to protect the mother's health.

Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said he would push to override the veto. "We are cautiously optimistic that our side has enough votes."

For the abortion ban to take effect, 109 House members and 23 senators must vote to override Carnahan's veto.

If that occurs, it would be only the seventh time in the 177-year history of the state that lawmakers have overridden a governor's veto and the third this century.

But Staples said the bill to ban partial-birth abortions would lessen the penalty already in place for such abortions.

A doctor who performs such an abortion could be convicted of a class D felony, which carries a five-year prison sentence, Staples said.

But he said that under current Missouri law, such an abortion is a class A felony and amounts to second-degree murder. It carries a punishment of 30 years to life in prison, Staples said.

Heckemeyer and Thomason agree that state law already makes partial-birth abortions a crime.

That view also is shared by Gov. Mel Carnahan and Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Nixon voiced his view on the subject in an attorney general's opinion he issued at the request of Heckemeyer.

Kinder dismissed Nixon's opinion.

"I think Mr. Nixon's opinion is garbage," he said.

He said Nixon's opinion deals with a situation where a doctor kills a baby after a botched abortion procedure.

He said that isn't the situation with partial-birth abortions, which involves the partial extraction of a fetus.

"Our situation is a baby in the process of being born, literally inches and seconds from taking its first breath, but not having done so yet, and having the scissors inserted into the base of the skull while the baby's head is still in the birth canal," Kinder said.

"There isn't anything actually prohibiting this practice in current Missouri law," he said.

Late-term abortions essentially are outlawed under Missouri and federal law, Thomason said.

But Kinder said a partial-birth abortion isn't just a late-term procedure. It can occur earlier in the pregnancy, he said.

Staples would prefer lawmakers not override the veto, but instead come back in the 1998 legislative session and write a better bill. He wants a bill that would make it a class A felony and also would ban the abortion procedure in caesarean cases.

MISSOURI VETOES

The Missouri Legislature has overridden governors' vetoes six times in the state's history.

* In 1820, during the state's first General Assembly, Gov. Alexander McNair vetoed a bill lawmakers had passed to increase their salaries. The lawmakers voted to raise their salaries over the veto.

* In 1833, Gov. Daniel Dunklin vetoed seven bills passed by the Legislature that granted divorces in seven cases. Back then, it required an act of the Legislature to secure a divorce. The vetoes were overridden.

* In 1839, Lilburn Boggs was governor. He vetoed a bill establishing a criminal court in St. Louis County. Lawmakers overrode the veto.

Boggs is best remembered as the only governor in the state's history to declare war on Iowa. The so-called "Honeybee War" was quelled by federal troops.

* In December 1855, Gov. Sterling Price vetoed a bill that involved the issuance of railway bonds. The Legislature overrode it.

As Missouri became involved in the Civil War, Price led a last-ditch effort to keep federal troops out of the state. Negotiations broke down in St. Louis and he rode back to the state capitol in Jefferson City, burning every bridge behind him.

* In 1976, lawmakers overrode a veto by Gov. Christopher "Kit" Bond of a bill involving nursing regulations.

* In 1979, lawmakers overrode a veto by Gov. Joe Teasdale, clearing the way for construction of the Truman Office Building in Jefferson City.