EFFORTS WILL REDOUBLE ON ANTI-ABORTION BILL

Gov. Mel Carnahan succeeded last week in thwarting a powerful effort to override his veto of Senate Bill 275, the bill banning partial-birth abortions in Missouri. That override attempt fell just one vote short of the necessary two-thirds margin of 23 senators' votes. Because it failed there, the House never took up an override motion. Had the Senate been able to muster two-thirds, it is highly likely that the House, whose members run every two years, would have followed suit.

Successful overrides are rare, with only six in the entire 177 years of Missouri's statehood, and only two -- both during the 1970s -- in this century. Though their efforts didn't meet with success this time around, those who made the effort are to be commended. This is an issue that transcends partisan politics and on which the facts are well-known. Partial-birth abortion is a gruesome procedure, unknown to the medical literature. Ob-gyn physicians expert in crisis pregnancy went on the record to emphasize the fact that no such procedure can be sanctioned to protect either the health of the mother or her future fertility. On the contrary, these experts testified, this unrecognized procedure poses positive threats to both the woman's health and her fertility.

It was a sad day when Governor Carnahan vetoed the bill, sadder still when eight senators found a pretext for switching the votes they had cast for the bill back in the spring. Public disappointment in this episode is widespread, and confidence in government is lessened by such cynical acts. Let's hope that disaffection doesn't harden into deep-seated cynicism. If it does, all Missourians will know where to fix the blame.

Pro-lifers will redouble their efforts to pass a good bill next year. An informed and aroused public can help. Here's wishing them success.