JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — When lawmakers return to the state Capitol next week for a veto session, they will do so with a full plate: Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed nearly three dozen measures this summer, including a controversial bill that would triple the state’s 24-hour waiting period for abortions.
When it was first heard this spring, the measure passed with support from Republicans and a handful of Democrats, alike. It passed both chambers with veto-proof majorities — including support from all of the members of Joplin’s delegation to the Legislature.
The measure — House Bill 1307 — would expand the state’s current waiting period to three days. If passed, a woman would have to consult with a physician to get an abortion, be presented a slew of state-mandated literature about the procedure and potential consequences, and return three days later. It includes no exemption for cases of rape and incest.
“I feel as though if a person has a chance to digest the information over a couple more days, hopefully they’ll make a decision to not have an abortion,” said state Sen. David Pearce, a Warrensburg Republican who sponsored a similar measure in the Senate.
If supporters get the necessary two-thirds majority to override Nixon’s veto, Missouri would join South Dakota and Utah with some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the nation. In his strongly worded veto message, Nixon said this measure would “unnecessarily prolong the suffering of rape and incest victims, and jeopardize the health and well being of women.”
HB 1307 was sponsored in the House by Rep. Kevin Elmer, R-Nixa. When lawmakers convene for the veto session on Sept. 10, the measure would first have to pass out of the House, where Republicans just won back their veto-proof majority during special elections in August.
“I think it has a high probability of passing and us overriding the governor’s veto,” said Rep. David Sater, R-Cassville. “In the House, there were some Democrats who voted for the legislation, so it shouldn’t have any problem there. I don’t see any problems.”
In the Senate, Republicans also appear to have the numbers to override Nixon’s veto. Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville, who was absent for the first vote, has said he will support the override attempt. For supporters, the bill is about trying to lessen the number of abortions in Missouri.
“This is trying to decease the number of abortions in the state of Missouri,” Sater said. Still, he said that it was not his intent to end abortion in the state. “We are not changing the law as far as a person’s ability to have an abortion,” he said.
M’Evie Mead, state director of organizing at Planned Parenthood Affiliates and Advocates in Missouri, said the measure is exactly about restricting abortion rights.
“It’s further political intrusion and will do nothing for women’s health,” she said.
Planned Parenthood and its supporters who opposed the bill have been lobbying legislators any way they can in the lead up to next Tuesday’s vote. They have staged rallies and organized phone and social media campaigns all in an attempt to sway just a few legislators who could be the deciding vote against an override.
“We’re fully engaged,” she said.
Mead pointed to a poll commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri in July that suggested the state is split on the measure. According to the survey of 759 Missourians, 43 percent supported the measure while 50 percent opposed it. That, she said, was highlighted by support this session at the Capitol, where women staged a 72-hour “filibuster” on the front steps while lawmakers inside were debating the measure.
“There’s definitely a sense we need to move on and let the veto stand,” she said.
The abortion issue — where politicians frame themselves as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” — does not fall cleanly along party lines here in Missouri. The bill was supported by Democrats that come from working-class counties where Republicans often support labor unions and Democrats tout themselves as “pro-life” and pro-gun.
Even Nixon — a Democrat from De Soto, at the heart of one of those counties — has played the abortion politics carefully. Before this year, Nixon let four abortion restrictions passed by the Legislature go into effect without his signature.
“In the population of Missouri, this issue crosses party lines,” said Mead. “It does in the Legislature as well.”
Veto session
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed 33 bills this summer, a personal record, along with more than 100 line-item vetoes of budget bills in his continuing tax cut fight with the Legislature. Last year, Nixon vetoed 29 bills, in addition to line-item vetoes in three budget bills.