Two of Missouri's statewide elected officials on Tuesday told pro-life supporters their children who were born with serious illnesses are the greatest blessings God could give.
Treasurer Eric Schmitt told people gathered in the Capitol Rotunda for Pro-Life Action Day his son, who has epilepsy and tubular sclerosis (a genetic disorder that manifests with numerous benign cancerous tumors throughout the body), depends on his parents for everything.
"Stephen is the greatest blessing that I have ever received on this Earth," Schmitt said.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said doctors thought when his son, who is now 8, was born he wouldn't survive.
"Life comes from God," Ashcroft told about 200 people gathered for the rally. "We're winning, and we're making progress. It's because of people like you."
Those gathered hoped to thank legislators for supporting bills that protect life, they said.
Eight legislators who support House Bill 1266 made their way to the Rotunda to introduce themselves. Among them were state Reps. Sara Walsh, R- Ashland, and Diane Franklin, R-Camdenton.
HB 1266 would establish the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Act," which states no abortion may be performed if the probable age of the fetus is 20 weeks. If abortion is necessary to avert the mother's death, the doctor must terminate the pregnancy in a manner which provides the best opportunity for the fetus to survive unless doing so would pose a greater risk of death to the woman, according to the bill's summary.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, was scheduled to be presented on the House floor Tuesday.
Nobody does a bill alone, Lichtenegger told the crowd.
"It takes all of you," she said.
Another speaker, Reagan Barklage, the Western Regional director of Students for Life of America, told the gathering about an experience she had with her current pregnancy. She said her baby was putting pressure on her sciatic nerve and Barklage went to a masseuse for relief. But, once the masseuse began manipulating her back, the baby became agitated and began kicking. The masseuse said they would calm the baby and put a warm towel on Barklage's back, she said. The baby immediately calmed.
"My baby could feel the warmth of the towel," she said. "If my baby could feel the heat of a towel, how dare you say he could not feel the pain of being dismembered with forceps."
Barklage said millennials agree the bill should be passed, and millennials are being targeted by the abortion industry.
The event's keynote speaker, National Right to Life President Carol Tobias, said after about 50 years of abortions being performed in the United States, people are still not willing to talk about the practice.
Women who receive them aren't willing to speak about abortions, Tobias said, because they know "deep down" what they're doing is wrong.
She said the abortion industry doesn't want to allow women to get all the information available about abortions, and it doesn't want them seeing sonograms of their fetuses. It just wants to rush women to the abortion clinic, Tobias said.
People like those in the Capitol on Tuesday will play a role in stopping abortions, she added.
"The pro-life movement is made up of the salt of the earth," Tobias told listeners. "You are the best of America. You are the best of Missouri."