Those outraged by this attack on the most innocent of all life have over these last thirty-nine years relentlessly sought to restore the promise of our founding fathers of an “inalienable right to life.” We have been at this a long time, passing our hope and our commitment to new generations. Nowhere is this more clear than in the gathering of hundreds of thousands of pro-life citizens of all ages and religions from across the country in the annual March for Life in Washington DC every January – the largest, most continuous, peaceful protest in our country’s history.

But this sad anniversary also brings with it cause for great hope because we are winning this battle. More than 60% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll believe abortion should be illegal in most circumstances, a six-year high. Additionally, 51% of U.S. adults say abortion is morally wrong.

In Missouri as well, there’s cause for hope. The number of abortion clinics in Missouri has gone from a high of at least six to just one facility currently performing surgical abortions, the Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. Another cause for hope is that the 9,796 abortions performed on Missouri women in 2010, the latest numbers available, represents a 9.4% reduction from the previous year – greater than the decrease in the five previous years combined and less than half of the all-time high of 21,671 in 1980.

The legislative response to legalized abortion has played a critical role in reducing the number of abortions. Legislation supporting alternatives to abortion, increasing clinic regulations and requiring that women receive more information about the life of their unborn child and the dangers of abortion have saved thousands of lives. Good pro-life legislation protects every unborn child and every expectant mother. Missouri Right to Life will continue working to save lives through the legislative process.

Efforts of those who offer alternatives to abortion, those who pray and counsel women at abortion mills, those who speak out on the pain of their abortion, and pro-life voters who vote in favor of pro-life candidates by a two-to-one margin have all made a difference. The evil inner workings of abortion are being exposed for all to see with the revelations of criminality and gross malpractice in abortion mills across the country.

The battle between the culture of life and the culture of death was imposed on this nation by the lethal logic that we are not required to respect the lives of human beings if they are too small, too weak, too dependent, or too inconvenient. While we pro-lifers know that we are winning, we also know that there are miles and miles to go. We will continue to work for protective legislation for innocent human life. We will continue to witness in prayer, provide alternatives, and speak out against the injustice of abortion. In the greatest human rights struggle of our time – if not all times – we will not rest.

Pam Fichter
President
Missouri Right to Life

Thousands of Missourians will be boarding buses to head to Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life. Several Missouri Right to Life chapters will also have events in their communities.

If you are unable to travel to Washington, please attend a local event to acknowledge the lives lost due to the Roe v Wade decision.

March for Life Bus Trips

Missouri Life Caravan – The annual bus trip to Washington, DC’s March for Life, January 22-24. Call MRL-Eastern Region, 314-434-4900, or MRL State Office, 573-635-5110, or e-mail LifeCaravan@missourilife.org for more information.

Sedalia Chapter – 2012 Right to Life Trip to Washington DC, January 21-24. E-mail David Fall at dfall@gogremlins.com or call 660-221-6138 for more information

Springfield/Cape Girardeau – January 21-24, five buses will leave from Springfield and also pick up passengers in Cape Girardeau. Please call 573-334-7298 or e-mail kkeesee@charter.net for more information

Washington MO – January 20-24. Please call 636-239-5883 or e-mail bill.gegg@att.net for more information

Western Region – Please call 816-353-4113 or e-mail mrlwr@att.net for information.

Community Events

Barton County Chapter – Jan. 22nd, 2:00 p.m., Memorial Hall, Lamar. Guest speaker State Rep. Mike Kelly, and a presentation by Life Choices Pregnancy Resource Center

East Central Area Chapter – Jan. 23rd, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m., Candlelight Memorial Gathering at two locations: 5th & Jefferson in Washington, MO and at the Courthouse Square in
Union, MO

Mid Missouri March for Life – Jan 18th, 7:00p.m. Dinner, St. Martin’s Knights of Columbus Hall, 537 Rt. T, Jefferson City. Guest speakers Shawn Carney, co-founder of 40 Days for Life, and Dr. Alan Keyes. Jan. 19th, 10:00a.m. March to the Capitol. Guest speakers Dr. Keyes, Bridget Van Means, President of Thrive, and Coach Dave Daubenmire. Proceeds benefit the Women’s Help Center, St. Raymond’s Society, and 40 Days for Life. For more information, call 571-403-2977.

Monroe City Chapter – Ecumenical prayer service and candlelight march in Monroe City. The prayer service is at the K of C Hall starting at 5:00 p.m. and the march will follow. Contact Charlotte Schneider 573-735-2082 for information.

Sedalia Chapter – Jan. 23rd, 12 noon, Annual Memorial at the Pettis County Courthouse. Guest speaker Missouri Right to Life President Pam Ficther.

Western Region – January 22nd Candlelight Vigil for Life, 23rd & Noland Rd., 6:00 p.m. Contact Linda Vansandt, 816-252-2486, for information

January 23rd Prayer Vigil for Life, noon to 1:00 p.m., Ilus Davis Park (north side), 400 E. 9th St., Kansas City, MO. Contact the Missouri Right to Life Western Region office for more information, 816-353-4113

January 22-24 St. Louis metro area: Travel to Washington, D.C. on one of our Missouri Life Caravan buses leaving from throughout the St. Louis metro area. These buses still have room. Click here for more information.

January 21-24 Sedalia: 2012 Right to Life Trip to Washington D.C. arranged by the Sedalia Chapter of Missouri Right to Life. Charter bus will leave from Concordia at 6 a.m. and pick up passengers in Sedalia and Kingdom City on the way to D.C. For more information email dfall@gogremlins.com or call 660-221-6138. Click here to download a registration form.

January 20-24 Washington, MO: Please call 636-239-5883 or e-mail bill.gegg@att.net for more information.

Jan 21-24 Springfield/Cape Girardeau: Five buses will leave from Springfield and pick up passengers in Cape Girardeau. Please call 573-334-7298 or email kkeesee@charter.net for more information.

Kansas City area: Please call 816-353-4113. or email mrl-wr@att.net for information.

For Immediate Release:
December 1, 2011

For Information:
573-635-5110
314-966-3889

Missouri Roundtable For Life, Missouri Right To Life, and Missouri Citizens File Petition With Court; Seek Declaration That MOSIRA Bill is Void

Missouri Roundtable for Life and Missouri Right to Life have joined with Missouri citizens today to file a petition with the Cole County Circuit Court seeking a declaration that the MOSIRA bill is void and a legal nullity.

The MOSIRA bill, Senate Bill 7 (SB7), contains a clause that ties its implementation to the passage of Senate Bill 8 (SB8), also known as the “Aerotropolis” bill, by the General Assembly during the most recent Special Session.  Since SB8 failed to pass during the Special Session, the MOSIRA bill cannot go into effect and is therefore void.  Despite the clear language of the bill, Governor Jay Nixon has issued a press release stating he will “initiate steps toward the implementation” of MOSIRA.

“We are asking the Court to uphold the plain language of the MOSIRA bill in the face of the Governor’s refusal to do so,” said Fred N. Sauer, plaintiff and President of Missouri Roundtable for Life.

MOSIRA, The Missouri Science Innovation and Reinvestment Act, was designed to set up a fund, channeled through the state budget, to be administered by the pro-cloning Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), to provide state money and/or tax incentives for new technology businesses, including those engaged in human life science research.  The Missouri legislature refused to attached protective language to MOSIRA that would have prevented Missouri taxpayer dollars from going to abortion, human cloning, and embryo experimentation. Thus taxpayer dollars distributed via MOSIRA could be used to fund such practices. MOSIRA also places the Life Science Research Trust Fund, established in 2003 as the vehicle to receive and administer the funds received from the Tobacco Settlement Money, under the control of the MTC.

“If the Governor takes steps to implement MOSIRA in violation of the clear language of the bill, he will open the door to the possibility of Missouri taxpayer funding of abortion, human cloning, and experiments that destroy human embryos,” said Pam Fichter, plaintiff and President of Missouri Right to Life.  “No Missouri citizen should be forced to pay for practices that he or she finds morally offensive.”

Missouri Right to Life is also grateful for our many blessings.  First, we thank God for you, our faithful supporters.  We could not carry out our mission without your help.  We are thankful for the talent and generosity of our volunteers. We are thankful for the courageous legislators who stood for life in the face of tremendous pressure from anti-life forces.  We are thankful for the success we’ve had in enacting pro-life legislation in Missouri, and the important role we’ve played at the national level as well.  We know none of this would have been possible without God’s guiding hand.

As you gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving weekend and contemplate all of your blessings, please remember Missouri Right to Life in your prayers.  This battle for life becomes more complex as the culture of death threatens not only life in the womb, but through unethical research, health care rationing and the lives of the sick and elderly.  In addition to your prayers, please consider making a donation to Missouri Right to Life.  We are grateful for gifts of any size.

With gratitude -
Pam Fichter, President Missouri Right to Life

“And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” -Colossians 3:17

Click here to access hundreds of participating merchants who will donate a percentage of each purchase to the MRL Education Fund.

You can donate even easier by downloading “AutoEARN” at the Online Mall site and registering. Then, look for the “AutoEARN” tab in the upper left corner when you visit your favorite retailers’ websites. If you see the tab, click it and get more information on how you can earn contributions to the MRL Education Fund on all your purchases through that merchant.

Even those who live out of state can support our lifesaving work in Missouri by shopping through our website. Do your shopping at our Online Mall and shop for life!!

“This is wonderful news. Jefferson City is a very pro-life community and while this Planned Parenthood did not provide surgical abortions, we know that their purpose is to give out abortifacient drugs and do referrals for abortions. We are very glad that Planned Parenthood is no longer a part of the Jefferson City community.”

A few very dedicated Jeff City pro-lifers have had a constant weekly (Tuesdays 4:15 – 4:45pm) prayer vigil at this Planned Parenthood for NINE years. Trust in God includes trust in His timing – God is good!

The Jeff City Planned Parenthood office is merging with the Columbia facility which was one of only two abortion facilities in the whole state, but is not doing abortions at present because the abortion practitioner who had been working there was called to active duty in the military. Let’s hope this merging of resources doesn’t help them hire another abortionist anytime soon – or ever: Prayer for the Closing of an Abortion Mill.

Because of the faulty language currently contained in section 38 (d) of the Missouri Constitution, which only limitedly defines cloning as the implantation of a clone into a woman’s uterus, it lacks the necessary enforcement teeth to address other legitimately ethical research concerns. The after-the-fact reporting provision in the SB 7 coupled with only a ten-day window in which legislators may respond stymies any future investigative processes which may be warranted.

Missourians everywhere agree that a clone implantation must be legally prevented. However, Missourians also agree that a human embryo who is virtually genetically identical to an existing or previously existing human being who is “created” under any conditions also must be protected by the full measure of our law. The above-referenced section 38 (d) is commonly known in Missouri as Amendment 2, and it was passed on a fast track powered by misinformation. Doctors, citizens, biologists mounted an effort to slow the process and to require careful evaluation of the scientific evidence, but trickery prevailed. Now it is coming back to haunt us!

The history of the cozy little connection between MOSIRA and the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) goes like this: A fund was created that can be used for human life science research by tech businesses. It is administered by a quasi-government agency which has been a front-runner for pro-cloning efforts. The fund is channeled through our state budget process and supplied with state money—our tax dollars. MOSIRA is the fund, MTC is the controlling administrator, and our elected Missouri legislators are the overseers of the state budget process.

Do you want your Missouri tax dollars contributing to this type of life science research? What Missourians want to support is the use of ethical adult stem cell-based regenerative medicine research with its track record of successful human and humane therapies.

For additional information, visit: http://missourilife.org/legislation/mosira.html

For Immediate Release:
October 21, 2011

For Information:
573-635-5110
314-966-3889

Missouri Governor Signs Bill to Fund Human Cloning
And Embryonic Stem Cell Research

The following statement can be attributed to Pam Fichter, President Missouri Right to Life:

Missouri Right to Life is profoundly disappointed in the action of Governor Jay Nixon who today signed into law SB 7, the Missouri Science Innovation and Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA).

MOSIRA sets up a fund, channeled through the state budget, to be administered by the pro-cloning Missouri Technology Corporation, to provide state money and/or tax incentives for new technology businesses, including businesses engaged in human life sciences research.

Missouri Right to Life sought to add language to this legislation that would effectively prevent any MOSIRA funds from being used for unethical research. Sadly, neither the Missouri Legislature nor Governor Nixon valued the concerns of pro-life Missourians who have always opposed public funding for human cloning or embryonic stem cell research.

During the special session, both the Missouri Senate and the House passed The Missouri Science Innovation and Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) with bi-partisan majorities. This legislation provides public money for life science research without effective language to prevent funding of abortion-related services, human cloning, or embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Missouri Right to Life (MRL) promoted protective language at every step of the process in every way we could with the help of many courageous legislators. But when the final vote was taken, the majority of legislators from both parties didn’t feel the one sentence supported by MRL – or any other language that would effectively prevent the public funding of unethical research – was important enough to include. This current legislature deserves great credit for passing restrictions on late-term abortions during the regular session, but abortion isn’t the only life issue of concern to prolife voters of Missouri. Many of you may be asking yourselves what happened to our pro-life legislators on the issues of cloning and embryonic stem cell research.

Supporters of unethical research have invested tremendous sums of money in promoting their cause to the legislators. While tracking money in politics is like following water downhill, a review of the reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission just before and since the 2006 passage of Amendment 2 reveals that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been donated to legislators by pro-cloning PAC’s. MRL has identified at least three pro-cloning PAC’s: Supporters of Health Research and Treatment, The Greater K.C. Chamber of Commerce, which spun off a specific procloning PAC called The Life Sciences of Greater K.C. Chamber. There could be additional pro-cloning groups making donations to legislators of which we’re currently unaware.

But the pro-cloning money is only one possible answer to the defection of pro-life support on the issue of cloning and embryonic stem cell research in the Missouri Legislature. The decline of the economy nationwide and in Missouri – and the desire of many legislators to improve economic conditions in Missouri – led many of them to put aside pro-life concerns if doing otherwise was perceived to imperil economic development. This false choice was promoted by the pro-cloning lobbyists, particularly MOBIO, a leading advocate of unrestricted research and of Amendment 2.

Another component in the MOSIRA vote was the weak response from groups who were former allies in the battle to defeat Amendment 2. With the exception of The Missouri Roundtable for Life, Concerned Women for America, and Eagle Forum, other groups actually supported parts or all of the economic development legislation for the desired tax credits they contained, supported ineffective reporting language, or had an extremely weak response to the threat against human life.

While the MOSIRA vote was a great disappointment, we cannot be discouraged from continuing to be a voice for life. We know that we are called not to be victorious, but to be faithful. Once upon a time, Missouri had a solid legislative pro-life majority willing to uphold those principles on all life issues. With the prayers and the votes of pro-life Missouri citizens, we can be that state once again.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:5

Blessings,
Pam Fichter