Gannon Engaged In Abortion Debate During Town Hall
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By MARK EVANS
STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD
A spirited debate between State Senator Elaine Gannon and an unidentified abortion “abolitionist” over bills relating to abortion highlighted a two-hour town hall meeting on Aug. 9.
County commissioners and elected state officials outlined accomplishments and goals and took several questions during the event, at the Progress Sports Complex
The man, who did not give his name and left before the meeting ended, started out by stating that “at-home abortions” are still legal in Missouri, although abortion clinics have been closed.
He lamented the failure of Senate Bill 356, called “the Abolition of Abortion in Missouri Act,” to make it to a floor vote. The bill sought the outright abolition of abortion in the state by granting all constitutional rights of a citizen to an unborn child. Therefore aborting the child would be considered murder under the law.
Campaign Life Missouri and Missouri Right to Life (an affiliate of National Right To Life) testified in opposition to the bill because it would hold pregnant women who take part in some abortion process equally guilty,along with physicians who perform abortions.
According to a study in the Journal of American Medical Association, more than 1,300 women a year are ordering pills from an overseas abortion pill provider for delivery into Missouri for “do-it-yourself” abortions, and that numerous other companies are also supplying such pills as well.
“Anyone who would actually read the bill would have no justification before God for opposing what the bill stood for,” he said, turning his attention to Gannon, a strong Pro Life proponent, who has said in the past that she would be against any effort to legalize abortion in cases of rape or incest. “So mainly, my question is this: Why would someone that proclaims to be a Christian and is in a leadership position that has been granted to them by God and is to be a servant of God by rewarding those who do good and by punishing those who do evil, as stated in Romans 13? Why would this person be complacent with the punishment of those that have done no evil? Namely, the death penalty for the unborn. Because, we don’t just merely kill people based on inconvenience, size, level of development, location.”
Gannon asked him if he was suggesting that a mother who uses an in-home abortion method “should be considered a criminal.”
“Considered a murderer, yes” he replied, “because that is considered life in the womb – unless they are coerced.”
“I’m Po-Life,” Gannon said. “I supported the doing away with abortions in the state of Missouri. I think that if a woman somehow finds a way to have an abortion, gets a pill somehow, whatever, at that point, no, I do not agree that woman should be considered a criminal. I think we should love that woman.”
“What about the child?” the man asked.
“That she aborted?” Gannon asked.
“The one that she murdered,” he answered, “yes.”
“The one that she aborted?” Gannon continued. “Well, it’s sad. It’s definitely sad.”
The man, who handed out cards for Reformed Labs, a group for the abolition of abortion, compared it to a mother who murders a 2-year-old.
“A life in the womb is no different from a life outside,” he said.
“I see were you’re coming from,” Gannon said. “But I agree with Missouri Right To Life that in those situations we need to love that mother. We need…”
“What about the child?” The man interjected.
“Well, if a mother murdered a 2-year-old … we’ve heard about that … if a parent, mother or father, murders their child, then it is a crime,” Gannon said. “I’m just saying where I stand.”
“So you don’t agree with God?” The man asked.
“I’m a Christian,” Gannon said. “I have discussed this issue with my minister.”
Gannon elaborated on her point.
“It might be a 16-year-old girl that took that pill; it might be a 21-year-old woman that took that pill that maybe … no money, no job,” she said.
“If a man rapes a woman, who dies – justly?” The man asked.
Audience member Kenny Williams then called to moderator Mark Marberry that, “This is turning into a debate instead of a question.”
“And I gave my opinion and if you want to hear from somebody else…” Gannon said, at which time the man cut in and asked her if she would “repent before God.”
District 145 State Representative Rick Francis then weighed in.
“It’s a question that causes you to think a little bit,” he said. “I am Pro Life I am against abortion, but to me that is a bridge too far to have a mother be brought up on charges of murder. I couldn’t do that.”