Graves doesn’t think there are two sides to the abortion issue.
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by State Sen. Sam Graves
Arguments can be made on at least two sides of almost every issue. But when it comes to killing unborn children, there is little room for the kind of fence-straddling that too many politicians engage in when it comes to controversial issues.
Next month, when the legislature convenes in its annual veto session, a lot of folks who would rather be on both sides of the fence may find themselves out of wiggle room when it comes to the issue of banning partial-birth abortion in Missouri
Two years ago, the General Assembly voted to outlaw the practice of partial birth abortion. This is a procedure in which a child is partially delivered, then killed. In debate on the measure, proponents of the procedure testified that there wasn’t evidence the procedure was even done
in this state. Let’s hope not. Even better, let’s make sure it isn’t done in our state.
That’s what lawmakers tried to do two years ago. The bill was vetoed by the governor. To override a veto by the governor requires a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The veto override effort fell one vote short in the Senate, and the veto by
the governor was sustained.
This year, the Legislature has again passed a bill that would outlaw the killing of children while they are being delivered.
Again, this bill outlawing partial-birth abortions has been vetoed by the governor. He claims that it doesn’t have sufficient safeguards and that it could be ruled unconstitutional.
It is the job of neither the legislative nor the executive branch of government to rule on the constitutionality of laws. That authority is reserved only for the judicial branch.
The bill does contain safeguards. It clearly states that it will not apply if the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother. But most of all, it contains the one important safeguard most needed: it makes it illegal to kill a child being born in our state. And for the
unborn, it would be hard to imagine a more important safeguard than that.