Pro-life supporters encourage veto overrides

Missouri Speaker of the House Timothy Jones held a press conference Tuesday at Pregnancy Help Center on Southwest Boulevard. He addressed a small group of supporters about the pro-life legislation override effort underway in the current veto session. Standing in the background is Susan Klein, legislative liaison for Missouri Right to Life.
Missouri Speaker of the House Timothy Jones held a press conference Tuesday at Pregnancy Help Center on Southwest Boulevard. He addressed a small group of supporters about the pro-life legislation override effort underway in the current veto session. Standing in the background is Susan Klein, legislative liaison for Missouri Right to Life.

More than a dozen people attended a pro-life press conference Tuesday at the Pregnancy Help Center of Central Missouri.

The Pregnancy Help Center has been open for more than two years. It provides free services to pregnant women such as prenatal care and parenting classes, said Leslie Kerns, executive director of the Pregnancy Help Center of Central Missouri.

Members of the Concerned Women of America, Thrive Pregnancy Resource Center and Missouri Right to Life gathered to listen to House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, speak in favor of the override the Gov. Jay Nixon's vetoes on House bills 1307 and 1132.

However, Jones spent nearly half the time complimenting the legislature and condemning the governor. This included his boast that the legislature passed a balanced budget and that more than 60 percent of Americans are pro-life.

Nixon has pointed to 10 "Friday Favors" bills making sales tax exemptions that were not included in the legislative budget. Nixon has said his vetoes and withholdings were necessary to offset the favors and sales tax exemptions which would make the budget out of balance.

Also, a recent poll from Gallup Politics shows the country being divided on abortion as 47 percent pro-choice and 46 percent pro-life, while the rest are undecided. This is a five percent increase in pro-choice voters from the previous poll by Gallup in 2012.

HB 1307 extended the 24-hour waiting period for an abortion to 72 hours, according to the bill's summary. Nixon has said he vetoed the bill because it is a disrespectful measure that would unnecessarily prolong the suffering of rape and incest victims and jeopardize the health and wellbeing of women.

House Bill 1132 increased the amount of tax credits that may be claimed by taxpayers who contribute to maternity homes, pregnancy resource centers and food pantries, according to the bill summary. In his veto message, Nixon said expanding the credits would make it more difficult to fund education and other core governmental services.

"These two bills actually work together," said Susan Klein, legislative liaison with the Missouri Right to Life. "When women have time to think about whether they want to have an abortion or not they are more and more often choosing life and walking into pregnancy resource centers and asking for help ... and they need more help and more assistance and that is what 1132 does."

In response to the gathering at the Pregnancy Help Center of Central Missouri, multiple organizations will rally at the Capitol at 11 a.m. today to support the governor's vetoes. These organizations include the ACLU of Missouri, Faith Aloud, National Women's Political Caucus and more. Pro-life advocates will be holding a similar event at 4 p.m. at the Capitol.

"I am very disappointed that there is even a possibility of the veto of HB 1307 being overridden," said Chelsea Merta, director of political and civic engagement for Faith Aloud. "There is a disconnect between the officials of Jefferson City and the women this will affect. From a legal perspective it is frustrating to see the Missouri legislature continually push their legislation that has been held by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional with regards to a women's autonomy."