Copyright 1999 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
July 13, 1999, Tuesday, THREE STAR
EDITION
Correction Appended
SECTION:
NEWS, Pg. A7
LENGTH: 686 words
HEADLINE: GOV. CARNAHAN VETOES BILL BANNING
LATE-TERM ABORTION PROCEDURES
BYLINE:
Bill Bell Jr.; Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau
DATELINE: JEFFERSON CITY
BODY:
Gov. Mel Carnahan vetoed the so-called Infants' Protection Act
Monday, saying the measure would ban most abortion procedures.
At a news conference resembling a campaign pep rally, Carnahan offered a
new argument against what he called the "dangerously flawed" measure, saying it
could give someone who kills an abortion doctor an extra legal defense.
The veto sets up a bitter political fight in September, when abortion
opponents have promised to override his decision. The veto also will likely
become a top issue in Carnahan's campaign against Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo, an
ardent abortion opponent. The two will likely face each other in the November
2000 election. Abortion foes said Carnahan was using "scare tactics" to drum up
support for his position.
"The governor is really dredging the bottom of
the barrel to come up with some far-fetched reactions," said Lou DeFeo,
executive director and general counsel of the Missouri Catholic Conference.
"He's playing spin doctor."
The measure would create a new crime of
infanticide allowing prosecutors to bring charges against anyone who commits an
"overt act" to kill a fetus once the fetus' navel or chin has passed a woman's
cervix. The crime would be a Class A felony, punishable with 10 to 30 years in
prison or life in prison.
Proponents say the bill protects infants as
they are being born. Opponents, such as Carnahan, say the measure bans abortion
procedures commonly done in the fifth or sixth week of pregnancy.
About
75 people - mostly women wearing "Thank You Mel" buttons - filled Carnahan's
office as he announced his veto. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Dee Joyce-Hayes also
made an appearance at the event, supporting Carnahan's argument that the measure
is so vague, it could inadvertently offer a new line of defense for someone who
might kill an abortion doctor.
Later, in an interview, Joyce-Hayes said
the bill also failed several other constitutional tests set by federal courts.
The bill lacks a health exception for the mother, she said, and is overly vague.
She said she sees the measure as a clear effort to set up a court case on the
issue.
"Missouri can't secede from the Union and go out and do its own
thing," she said. "I think (the bill) is full of holes."
DeFeo said the
bill would defend doctors who inadvertently hurt a child or the mother while
trying to deliver a baby.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ted House, D-St.
Charles, said he would try to keep the veto-override debate focused on the
proposed law and not on politics.
However, minutes after Carnahan's
press conference ended, both the Missouri Republican Party and House Minority
Floor Leader Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, issued press releases deriding the
governor's veto.
While the bill commanded large majorities in both
chambers when it passed, that doesn't automatically translate into a veto
override. Some legislators are likely to side with the governor out of partisan
loyalty and legislative tradition.
In 1997, the Senate rebuffed an
override attempt on a similar abortion bill. Seven Democrats and one Republican
who had supported the bill changed sides and voted to sustain Carnahan's veto.
The last successful override was in 1980, when legislators reinstated
funds for construction of the Truman State Office Building. This September, the
first test of the override will come in the House, where supporters are
confident they have the 109 votes to override.
Votes are once again much
closer in the Senate, where the measure passed, 27-6, in May. Rural Democrats up
for re-election next year, such as Sen. Jerry Howard, D-Dexter, could be key.
Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life - the state's
largest anti-abortion group - said her organization will start a new chapter in
Howard's Bootheel district this summer.
M'Evie Mead, a lobbyist for the
Missouri National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League - who brought a
busload of people to the event - said she planned to bombard lawmakers with
information. "We're going to shout from the treetops about how bad this bill
is," she said.
CORRECTION:
RECTION - Correction
published July 14, 1999 - The headline on this story about a veto of an abortion
bill is incorrect. The bill did not specify whether it would involve only
late-term abortions, and critics contended it could have been used to ban
abortions early in a pregnancy.
LOAD-DATE: July 15,
1999 
