Blunt should call special session for pro-life bill

by: Don Hinkle - Jun 19, 2008 - comments: 1

For Missouri abortionists, it could be “the perfect storm.”

Missouri Southern Baptists believe abortion should be prohibited. Only God has the right to take an innocent life. A large majority of Missouri Southern Baptists feel so strongly about abortion and how God views governments that condone it that it weighs heavily on our collective conscience come elections.

Southern Baptists have been falsely accused of being tied too closely to the Republican Party. While it is true that the GOP has benefited from Southern Baptist votes beginning with The Reagan Revolution, it would be a mistake for any political party to automatically count on Southern Baptist votes in any election. The Missouri Republican Party, in my view, has governed pretty conservatively in recent years, but what about the pro-life issues so important to Missouri Southern Baptists who constitute the largest evangelical denomination in the state?

Gov. Matt Blunt, has in my opinion, been an outstanding governor – with the exception of one misstep: supporting embryonic stem cell research. Blunt, like too many of his fellow Republicans, unnecessarily followed the old “Danforth Wing” of the state party right off the political cliff, sending the wrong message to social conservatives in advance of this fall’s elections. (It is interesting to note that both Republican candidates for governor, Kenny Hulshof and Sarah Steelman, have rejected embryonic stem cell research, but rightly embrace adult stem cell research.) Conservatives do not get elected by adopting liberal policies and they better not talk out of both sides of their mouths at the same time – lest there be repercussions.

However, despite that one disappointing decision, Blunt has demonstrated Solomonic wisdom when it comes to the abortion issue. He was courageous in calling a special session of the Missouri General Assembly in September 2005 to deal with the matter. The result was passage of a law that allows parents to sue any adult who helps their minor daughter (under age 18) get an abortion without getting the required parental consent, including if the girl is taken across state lines. The law also limits a “next friend,” or an adult who acts on behalf of a child in a parental consent court proceeding, to exclude anyone with a financial interest or potential gain in the girl’s decision to have an abortion. In addition, it requires abortion doctors to have clinical privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where the abortion is performed or induced.

For abortionists, that historic session proved to be “the perfect storm.” The lives of hundreds of unborn babies have been spared. Abortionists across the Mississippi River from St. Louis in abortion-friendly Illinois are singing the blues. “Business” from Missouri has dropped dramatically because they fear being sued by parents who have had their parental rights, to an important degree, reinstated. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider, is being run out of the state. In fact, a former clinic in Springfield has shut its doors and the building has been purchased by the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home. (Pro-family Missourians have a particular disdain for Planned Parenthood because it receives more than $300 million annually in taxpayer money for its evil services.)

Now history could – and should – repeat itself. Like in 2005, the General Assembly failed to act on important pro-life legislation that would have further curtailed Missouri abortions. The House passed a bill that would make it illegal to try to coerce a woman into having an abortion by abusing, stalking or threatening to fire her, reducing her wages, changing her working environment or taking away her college scholarship. It also would require a woman seeking an abortion to be given the option of seeing an ultrasound of the fetus and would have expanded the information required to be given to the woman by the physician performing the abortion. Sadly, the Senate failed to act. As a result, pro-life supporters are calling on Blunt to again create “the perfect storm” and call a special session of the General Assembly to address the issue. The timing of such action could produce, for abortionists, another “perfect storm.”

Clearly the governor’s instincts concerning abortion are sound. He hates it. For someone not running for re-election, perhaps it is possible that his conscience rather than political costs will prevail in this instance. After all, he is himself, a new father. He is also not ashamed of his Christian faith. From a spiritual standpoint, a special session is the right decision. Let’s pray Blunt comes to the same conclusion.

But what about the politics?

Some conservative Republicans are nervous about the fall elections (however, the polls I’ve seen in Missouri are a mixed bag at this point). A special session – say in September just in advance of the November elections – would put them and their colleagues on a grand stage to make a major statement about the sanctity of life, not only before Missouri voters, but before the nation and most importantly, God. It would shore-up their social conservative base without alienating others more interested in pro-business economic policies. Liberals and abortionists will grumble about the cost of a special session, but how much is the life of a child worth? Count that cost. Others will whine that the courts will strike down such pro-life legislation. But inaction by the General Assembly would be tantamount to surrendering its constitutional duty to a judiciary that only has the right to interpret law, not in de facto create it.

Blunt has said he would call a special session if there is consensus. Call him. Email him. Call your local representative and senator, or email them. Urge them to call a special session and pass legislation that will save the lives of innocent babies. Let‘s pray God will send another “perfect storm” for Missouri’s miserable abortion industry.

This article is reprinted from the June 3, 2008, issue of The Pathway, the newspaper of the Missouri Baptist Convention.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Life, Abortion, Stem-Cell Research, Citizenship, Legislation

comments

1 On Jun 23rd, 2008, at 9:13pm, David Asher wrote:

First I would like to point out that Planned Parenthood does much more than perform abortions. The fact that they have taken a hit in Missouri is a huge burden to women’s health and to the other wide range of people who benefit from their services. A huge burden is already placed on young women to get the protection they need to be healthy and safe. Planned Parenthood provides numerous services, outside of abortions, to help these women.

Second, I consider myself to be pro-choice, but I do have a moral conflict because I do believe every human being has a right to life. However, I find that it shouldn’t be my place to tell women what to do with their bodies. If women want to limit abortions or make them illegal, I might be able to live with that, but I don’t want to see men make that decision. (case point: women tend to vote democratic in larger numbers than men, and the Democratic Party tends to be pro-choice, the reverse is true of the Republican Party)

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