Special Session Delivers on Pro-life Legislation

SEPTEMBER 15, 2005, JEFFERSON CITY, MO – On September 14, the Missouri House of Representatives took up and passed SB 1 to regulate abortions. When signed by Governor Matt Blunt, this bill will allow parents to file a lawsuit against those who cause, aid or assist a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent, excludes adults who have a financial interest in abortion from assisting minors to seek judicial consent to an abortion, and requires doctors who perform abortions to have clinical privileges at a hospital within thirty miles of the abortion clinic.

SB1, sponsored by Sen. John Loudon (R-Ballwin) was handled in the house by Rep. Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield). The bill passed in the Senate 26-6 and in the House by a vote of 115-35. Sen. Loudon stated, “ After 5 years of working on this it feels really good to get it done and put in place these protections for mo minors and their families. The Illinois option versus consulting parents or using the judicial bypass option, is the one least likely to catch perpetrators of violence against these girls and that’s the dirty little secret of the Illinois option.”

The bill was originally filed by Sen. Loudon in 2001 in response to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The article, by Kevin McDermott, stated that in 2000 there were 7,300 abortions performed at the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Ill. Forty percent of those abortions were on women from Missouri. Of the 7,300 abortions fourteen percent were performed on minors. Hope Clinic advertised throughout Missouri that its services are available to minors, and that parental consent is not necessary.

“The passage of this bill was very important to me as I co-sponsored the original bill during the regular session,” commented Rep. Tim Meadows (D-Imperial). A member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Imperial, Meadows said “I believe it is wrong to take minors across state lines for any reason, but especially for abortions without their parents’ knowledge.” While Meadows felt that this legislation could have been handled during the regular session, he stated that the issue needed to be addressed. “Abortion and cloning are the two most important issues to the people in my district,” Meadows said.

The bill will makes it a crime for a doctor to perform abortions at an abortion clinic without having clinical privileges at a hospital within thirty miles of the abortion facility. The purpose is to ensure the safety of women. Deacon Larry Weber, Executive Director of the Missouri Catholic Conference stated, “Too often an abortion doctor comes in to an area, performs abortions and leaves. When complications arise from the abortion the woman has to go to the emergency room where doctors are unable to contact the abortion doctor. This can seriously delay the appropriate diagnosis and treatment.”

The other two provisions of SB1 helps promote family unanimity and protect teen girls. The legislation will allow parents to file a lawsuit against those individuals who cause, aid or assist a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent. “This will address the concerns of parents whose underage daughters are being solicited by abortion clinics in Illinois where there are no parental consent laws,” said Weber. In response to this legislation the Hope Clinic in Illinois announced on Wednesday, September 14, that it would now require parents to accompany their teenage daughters to ensure that they have parental consent. Minors seeking an abortion without a parent present will be turned away.

Another issue that is clarified in the bill is who can serve as “next friend” for a minor seeking judicial (rather than parental) consent for an abortion. The bill excludes individuals who work or volunteer at an abortion facility from acting as a “next friend”. A “next friend” is an adult who appears in court on behalf of a minor, but is not a party to the lawsuit. Children must be represented in court by their parents or other adults as “next friends.” In addition, the legislation

would prohibit the child’s father who might be obligated to pay child support or an adult male who might be charged with statutory rape when the pregnancy becomes known from being the “next friend.”

Planned Parenthood has announced that they intend to file lawsuits challenging the new law.