JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Sept. 17 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a major victory for pro-life forces in Missouri, the state’s legislature passed a partial-birth abortion ban with a veto proof margin, thus thwarting the efforts of vehemently pro-abortion governor Mel Carnahan who promised to veto the bill. Frenzied lobbying of Senators by the governor failed to halt the two-thirds majority needed to veto proof the measure.
The senate voted 27 to 7 while the House vote for the bill on Wednesday was 127 to 34. However, late Friday U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright issued a 10 day order delaying the enforcement of the law at the behest of Planned Parenthood which will then set a trial date for a challenge to the law.
The Infant’s Protection Act goes states infanticide is a felony and criminals who cause “the death of a living infant . . . by an overt act performed when the infant is partially born or born” is subject to charges equivalent to murder. Exceptions include the life of the mother or another fetus. Initially Planned Parenthood, Missouri’s largest abortion provider, threatened to suspend all abortions in protest of the decision, claiming that the new law brings into question the legality of all abortions.