Abortion-rights groups to lobby in Jeff City
Published March 15, 2005
Women from across the state will head to the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City today for an abortion-rights rally, days after the state House passed a bill that would make anyone who assists a minor in obtaining an out-of-state abortion financially liable to the minor's parents.
The "Rally For Women's Lives" will feature an array of speakers who include abortion-rights activists and state legislators.
Participants also will be asked to visit state representatives to lobby for abortion-rights bills, said Sarah Amos, spokeswoman for Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom.
"It will be a challenge to lobby because this administration seems really conservative when it comes to reproductive rights," Amos said. "However, that is why it's extremely important for reproductive-rights activists to go out and tell their legislatures how these laws will impact their constituents."
The rally is co-sponsored by Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Missouri National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, the St. Louis branch of the National Council of Jewish Women and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Missouri.
The Rev. Rebecca Turner, executive director of the Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said the rally, with an expected 450 participants, would be the largest the group has had in recent years.
An additional 150 people are expected to attend an after-rally luncheon.
Turner said organizers hope to discuss four bills they support and two bills they oppose, including House Bill 100, which passed through the House on Thursday with a vote of 122-31.
Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-St. Louis County, the bill's sponsor, said she introduced the legislation to prevent minors from crossing the state line into Illinois to get abortions. The bill stipulates that anyone who assists a minor in obtaining an abortion would be financially liable to the minor's parents. She said she estimates 400 minors cross the state line each year for abortions without their parents' consent, and 40 percent of abortions received in Illinois are from out-of-state residents.
"My motivation for the bill came from reading a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about a mother finding out her daughter was being taken by her friend to Granite City, Ill., for an abortion," Cunningham said. "When the mother arrived, she discovered the abortion had been performed and the clinic wouldn't let her see her child. She went to the police and they said, ''''''''¹"Å"Â"parents have no voice here.'"
Abortion-rights activists will support a Senate bill that would create new standards for dealing with rape victims in health care facilities, including offering victims emergency contraception, Turner said.
"A woman should receive access to health care if she does want to have a child and, if she doesn't want a child, no one should be forcing her to have a child, especially not the government," Turner said.
Turner said she hopes the day of lobbying will lead to of honest conversation rather than partisan politics.
"We should be discussing how to prevent unwanted pregnancy instead of abortion because that is really the issue," Turner said.