Tag Archives: Missouri

Missouri down to just one abortion business after Planned Parenthood closes

Good news from Life News.

But first, a pretty good introduction to the abortion business:

The abortion business can be very lucrative. Planned Parenthood alone brings in over $150 millionfrom abortion revenues – as much as half of its patient charges. Planned Parenthood destroys over 330,000 unborn children every year, an abortion every 95 seconds, at roughly $468 per abortion. The abortion giant has increased its market share of abortion commerce every year for over 3 decades.

But what has made abortion so profitable has been its constitutionally privileged status and the business model that status has enabled. Unlike virtually any other medical procedure, abortion has been deemed a protected right. This has allowed Planned Parenthood and its industry competitors to resist regulation that other medical services accept as the cost of safely doing business. And by calling on their political friends in high places ( and Planned Parenthood spends millions to keep them in those places) abortion sellers are able to secure political protection from rules that would protect their patients but undercut their bottom line.

Abortion businesses are thus rarely inspected and are often constructed such that women are endangered in an emergency situation. When they are inspected, the inspectors find gross health and safety violations. And as the Gosnell case demonstrates, even their shortcuts on construction can leave women endangered in an emergency situation. Planned Parenthood has also adopted a business plan that has doctors from another state (or country in some cases) fly in, perform dozens of abortions in one day, and then fly back home – leaving the woman with no relationship with the doctor and no opportunity for the doctor to assist in her care in case of complications.

Now the good news – Republicans have been busy passing regulations on this abortion clinics:

In Missouri, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys Steven Aden and Dale Schowengerdt successfully defended the state’s health and safety regulations of abortion clinics in two challenges in state and federal court.  Our friends at 40 Days for Life and others continued to bear witness outside Missouri’s four abortion clinics.

These four were reduced to two over the next few years as providers found their abortion businesses were unprofitable and retired or closed their doors. Then, just last week we received word that, unable to comply with those reasonable health and safety standards, the Columbia, Missouri Planned Parenthood has now lost its license and closed its doors. This leaves only one licensed abortionist operating in Missouri, a Planned Parenthood franchise in St. Louis.

More good news from Alabama, this time:

In Alabama, ADF Allied Attorney Trenton Garmon successfully defended the rights of sidewalk counselors to peacefully pray outside a Birmingham abortion facility. As a result, those sidewalk counselors were there to witness an ambulance transporting an injured woman to a hospital. They reported this to the state health department which investigated and found numerous health and safety violations, resulting in the closure of that abortion facility. This week we learned that the abortionist who owns the facility has given up and placed the building up for sale.

Isn’t that interesting? Rather than comply with the regulations, they choose to shut down. It’s not about providing a service, is it? It’s about the money. And if complying with regulations costs money, then the abortionists just stop providing the service.

Missouri Republicans override governor’s veto to protect conscience rights and religious liberty

From Life Site News.

Excerpt:

Missouri Republicans override governor’s veto to protect conscience rights and religious liberty

Individuals, employees and employers in the state of Missouri, by the passage of this law, will not be required to participate in, provide, pay for, or provide referrals for any health plans or services or services that cover those services, nor will it be lawful for such persons to be discriminated against or penalized by any government agency.

The bill was vetoed by Governor Nixon on July 12, which surprised some in light of his record of allowing previous pro-life bills to pass without his signature by allowing the 45-day veto period to elapse.  It was in this way that Missouri’s late term abortion ban became law just last year.

In yesterday’s special veto session, the Senate voted 26-6 and the House 109-45 in defense of the bill, which was written in response to the federal HHS mandate issued by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that took effect in August.  The narrow religious exemptions in the mandate left individuals and non-religiously-affiliated employers outside its purview and subject to complying with its controversial requirements.  Individual conscientious objectors, whether employer or employee in the state of Missouri, are now protected from the mandate unless possible federal court decisions rule otherwise.

Missouri governor Jay Nixon is, of course, a Democrat, and therefore opposes doctors and nurses having conscience rights. He also wants to force Christian businesses to subsidize abortion-causing drugs. He lost this time because the Republicans were there in force to stop his secular leftist fascism.

Pro-abortion Claire McCaskill to face pro-life challenger Todd Akin

From Life News.

Excerpt:

A marquee prolife versus pro-abortion matchup will take place in Missouri in a Senate race that pro-life advocates believe they can win on their way to getting a pro-life majority in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri is one of the Democrats’ most vulnerable senators heading into the 2012 elections and, following the Missouri Republican primary last night, she will now face pro-life Rep. Todd Akin.

[…]EMILY’s List, the political action committee that works to elect pro-abortion women, is recommending McCaskill to their supporters, encouraging contributions on her behalf. In order to receive the blessing of EMILY’s List, candidates must support even the most extreme elements of the pro-abortion movement including partial-birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.

Since taking office in January 2007, McCaskill has not cast one pro-life vote. According to her votes, McCaskill supports abortion funding under healthcare reform, taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research. McCaskill also voted to use American tax dollars to fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which participates in carrying out China’s oppressive One Child Policy. The One Child Policy has resulted in millions of forced abortions and made millions of baby girls into victims of sex-selection abortion.

I’m not about to endorse someone just because he is a social conservative, running against a radical pro-abortion leftist. I want to see foreign policy credentials, and fiscal conservatism, too!

Here are his awards for the most recent session of Congress:

Group Award Rating Date
Center for Security Policy Champion of National Security 100% 2010
National Tax Limitation Committee  Tax Fighter Award A 2010
National Federation of Independent Businesses National Guardian of Small Business Award 2010
Family Research Council  Friend of the Family 100% 2010
U.S. Chamber of Commerce  Spirit of Enterprise 2009
American Conservative Union  Defender of Liberty 100% 2009

Ok, I’m good with him. And Claire McCaskill’s rating from the American Conservative Union is 0 in 2011, 17 in 2010, and an average of 14.6 over her 5 years of service.