Missouri’s four candidates for governor were asked if they would support a proposed constitutional amendment to restore many abortions in the Show Me State. The forum took place at the Fox Theatre in southwest Missouri’s Springfield, hosted by the Missouri Press Association.
Democrat Crystal Quade said that Missouri’s current abortion law is “the most extreme” in the entire country.
“I personally have received phone calls from women who have gone to doctors’ offices during an active miscarrying situation and sent home being told that they’re not close enough to death yet,” she said. “Our doctors are scared to do their jobs. Over 800 doctors just signed a letter this very week saying that they supported Amendment 3 because they’re scared to go to prison to give access to healthcare.”
The only abortions currently allowed in Missouri are in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
Republican Mike Kehoe said he’s had conversations with people on the subject of granting exceptions for situations like rape or incest but said this ballot proposal goes “way too far.”
“It’s very extreme,” he told the audience. “I think there’s a lot of problems in this wording of the ballot where it doesn’t provide protections, appropriate protections for women, especially in the case of liability if there’s a medical emergency. I just believe this law has gone too far.”
The current Missouri Lieutenant Governor said that Amendment 3 “could be one of the most harmful constitutional amendments” he’s ever seen on the ballot, vowing to do all that he can to see that it is defeated on November 5.
Libertarian Bill Slantz is personally opposed to abortion but said that this should not be decided by the government.
“This is not something that should be decided in Jefferson City over a mass, you know, one size fit all for everybody,” he said. “It’s unique to each and everybody. Each individual out there has a unique and individual decision to make.”
Green Party candidate Paul Lehmann, who supports Amendment 3, echoed similar sentiment.
“People don’t know what the trauma that women undergo those who try to make that decision about whether or not to have abortion,” Lehmann said. “So, we should remember that as government that we have no business as Bill (Slantz) said here in the medical lives of individuals.”
Under Amendment 3, the proposal would allow abortion but also give state lawmakers some say in regulating abortion after the point in a pregnancy when the fetus is likely to survive outside of the uterus. Fetal survivability is around six months. There would be exceptions for the life, mental and physical health of the mother regardless of fetal survivability.
The entire forum covered a multitude of topics, including sports betting, the size of Missouri’s budget, immigration, and more. Click the video below to watch the forum.
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