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.
The legislation does not assume women are stupid, in fact, the legislation is to give the educated women the help she needs to covince her mother, her father, the father of the child or any one else that she will not be coerced and if they continue to do this she will have legal protection.
Why not amend the bill to make it a crime to coerce women to change their mind about whether or not to have a pregnancy?
Does the “pro-life” movement seriously think that it should be a hate crime to coerce a women to have an abortion, but that coercing a woman to have the child is acceptable?
The republiscums are at it again. They sure have the religious cult fanatics brainwashed. The republiscums don’t have and never have had a plan to make this country a better place for the majority of its citizens, only a plan to keep the richest 1% richer an in power. They single out a couple of smoke screen items like abortion, gun control, prayer in school, etc. to keep the jesus freaks excited so they don’t have to do anything to really help the country and the cult worshiping fools keep falling for it every time. I hope all you anti-abortion wackos are sending your money to the octomom to help with all her children. She didn’t abort them and I’m sure she is going to need some financial help to get the older children off, keep the new ones off of welfare that I’m sure you pro-lifers despise so much too. All of you anti-abortion whiners should already be tithing at least 10% of your incomes to child welfare programs. If your not then this alone proves you’re a bunch of hypocrites.
I can’t wait for the primary seatbelt bill to hit the Senate floor. I can see it now…Sen. Joan Bray, D-University City Stands up during the debate and says “Senator, your legislation assumes women are too stupid to buckle up.”