Setting up an election-year showdown with the Legislature, Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed on Wednesday a bill that would have required a 72-hour waiting period for abortions in Missouri.
Nixon said the bill's lack of an exception for victims of rape and incest was a "glaring omission" that was "wholly insensitive to women who find themselves in horrific circumstances."
But even if the bill had contained such an exception, he would have vetoed it, Nixon said in unusually sharp criticism of an abortion bill.
Tripling the current 24-hour waiting period "serves no demonstrable purpose other than to create emotional and financial hardships for women who have undoubtedly already spent considerable time wrestling with perhaps the most difficult decision they may ever have to make," the governor, a Democrat, said in his veto message.
The measure would have made Missouri the third state nationally to require a 72-hour waiting period, along with South Dakota and Utah. Utah's law includes an exception for victims of rape and incest, and people under age 14.
The Republican-controlled Missouri House and Senate approved the longer waiting period by large margins in May. Supporters said that women need more time to consider their decision and that it would reduce the number of abortions.
Senate bill handler Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville, vowed to seek an override at the veto session in September.
Abortion "is an irreversible and permanent decision, and taking the time to think about the consequences is not unreasonable or a burden," Sater said in a statement.
Abortion rights supporters have contended that the bill would place an undue burden on women who would have to take three days off from work and pay for lodging in St. Louis, where the state's only abortion provider is situated.
"This bill isn't about helping women," said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. He called it an "intrusion" into private medical decisions.
Paula Gianino, president of the political arm of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said the bill would "block access to safe, legal abortion and make it more difficult for women to get the care they need."
Nixon's harsh criticism of the bill contrasted with the middle course he has charted on abortion throughout most of his career in politics.
As governor, he let legislation restricting abortions become law without his signature in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
Last year's bill placed additional restrictions on the use of abortion-inducing drugs. The 2011 law restricted abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The 2010 law mandated that abortion clinics offer women the chance to view an ultrasound and listen to the heartbeat of the fetus. The clinics also must provide a state-produced brochure proclaiming that "the life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being."
In Wednesday's veto message, Nixon made note of the 2010 law's provisions, saying that Missouri already requires "comprehensive" in-person counseling.
The number of abortions has declined in Missouri from 17,947 in 1990 to 9,027 in 2012, according to state figures.
A veto override requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. While the Missouri Legislature is solidly anti-abortion, some said that marshaling enough votes could be tricky if any members are absent or if there are additional vacancies.
"You just never know on these overrides," said Sam Lee, who lobbies for Campaign Life Missouri, an anti-abortion group.
In May, the Senate passed the waiting period bill on a party-line vote of 22-9, one shy of the 23 needed for an override. All Republicans present supported the bill and all Democrats opposed it. One member -- Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville -- was absent. The Senate has two vacancies.
The House passed the bill on a vote of 111-39, more than the 109 needed for an override.
The bill is HB1307.
(c)2014 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
