UPDATE: Abortion debate hits Senate floor before Vitae dinner
UPDATE: Majority Floor Leader Sen. Kevin Engler said a little before 6 p.m. that he expects the abortion debate to go more than a couple of hours tonight. Engler is walking a fine line between two wings of his party. The moderates don’t believe the abortion coercion bill can pass, or should pass because of constitutional problems, and they effectively have blocked it from the Senate floor for two years. But the conservatives, and there are more of them this year with Sen. Jim Lembke and Sen. Jane Cunningham, aren’t buying the Senate leadership line that they can’t get the bill through. So Engler is laying down the gauntlet and testing the Democrats ability to filibuster. “A couple of hours won’t do it,” he said.
JEFFERSON CITY — Posturing or happenstance?
The anti-abortion group Vitae Foundation holds its annual fund-raising dinner tonight in the Missouri capital city. Ex-Arkansas governor and one-time presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is the speaker.
And on the first day back from spring break, the Missouri Senate is debating an abortion coercion bill that last year couldn’t make it to the Senate floor.
Coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
The bill is different than the one that couldn’t make the Senate floor last year, said Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, during debate. But upon questioning from Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, he couldn’t explain what the specific differences are. The debate has been going on for a couple of hours now.
The toughest exchange took place between Sen. Joan Bray, D-University City, and Mayer.
“Senator, your legislation assumes women are stupid,” Bray said.
Mayer said he was offended by the remark.
There’s a big difference between assuming women are stupid, and accepting the possibility that under the harsh circumstances of an unwanted pregnancy, perhaps in the context of a relationship which is already abusive, a woman might be coerced.