By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri has one of the strictest abortion laws in the country.
And State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville supports the state trigger law that went into effect once the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe versus Wade decision.
“Let me just say, I’m happy that the Supreme Court finally overruled Roe versus Wade,” Luetkemeyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “That was an extraordinary act of judicial activism when the court created a right out of thin air that is clearly not in the United States Constitution. So that decision was long overdue and now, appropriately in my view, puts the decision-making back in the hands of the people through their elected representatives to decide how abortion is going to be regulated both in Missouri and elsewhere around the country.”
In 2019, the Missouri General Assembly passed the strict anti-abortion measure that would go into effect if the Supreme Court repealed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that found a constitutional right to abortion.
“What we have done in Missouri is we have said, post Roe, there are no abortions that are allowed in this state with the exception of life of the mother,” Luetkemeyer says. “And that is the state of the law in Missouri. We have one of the most protective, pro-life laws in the entire country.”
Luetkemeyer, a Republican, dismisses much of the criticism of the Missouri abortion law, stating it doesn’t outlaw contraceptives and it doesn’t prohibit the use of birth control.
“I think it’s a lot of people trying to create red herrings that want to score some cheap political points right now,” according to Luetkemeyer. “If you look at the bill, a lot of things that are being said in the media are just not accurate.”
Luetkemeyer doesn’t believe Missouri lawmakers will tinker with the 2019 law that went into effect when Roe was overturned.
“The only thing that I could possibly see is maybe some technical modifications to the bill,” Luetkemeyer says. “There were some concerns about whether or not it had any impact over birth control or other prophylactics. The governor and the attorney general have already come out and said that’s not the case. Reading the law, I don’t think that is the case. I think it’s a bunch of liberal groups trying to score cheap points after the Dodds decision came out. I don’t see any significant modifications other than maybe a few technical clarifications in the bill.”
Luetkemeyer says current state law also allows for abortions in the cases of ectopic pregnancies which he says threaten the life of the mother and are not viable.