As a Republican who believes that all life is worthy of protection, I’ve spent years fighting to end abortion in Missouri. However, there’s a part of this problem we haven’t talked about enough: the training of abortion doctors. While we’ve focused on stopping the procedures, we’ve allowed a university in our own state to quietly keep the abortion industry alive by training the very people who carry out the procedures which prematurely end life.
That’s why I’ve filed legislation to put a stop to it. Most recently, on April 2nd, I offered an amendment to HB 594, which had become an omnibus tax bill. My amendment would have placed a voluntary tax on the endowments of universities that are involved in the abortion business. Sadly, the amendment failed by a vote of 6 to 17, even though it was an MRL-rated vote.
The next day, on April 3rd, Washington University’s version of the story made its way into a Capitol gossip column (the kind most people around the Capitol know all too well). This column twisted the facts and misrepresented my amendment. Senator Joe Nicola and I reached out to the editor to correct the record, but he refused to print our response. So I’m going to say it here, in a legitimate publication, where the truth has a chance to be heard.
Wash U’s “story line” goes like this: “The amendment was aimed at Washington University because of their involvement in training OBGYN doctors who perform abortions.” This is a flat-out lie.
Here’s the truth: all OBGYNs receive training in procedures like D&Cs as part of standard medical education. This amendment does not touch that. However, it does target universities whose actions go far beyond normal OBGYN training: institutions that are actively participating in and profiting from the abortion industry. This tax applies only to schools that:
- Are affiliated with or provide medical faculty to abortion facilities;
- Offer specialized fellowships that train doctors in how to perform or induce abortions; and/or
- Support abortion clinics in any way where abortions are performed that aren’t necessary to save the life of the mother.
Let me be very clear: Washington University is deeply involved in all of this. They don’t just teach standard OBGYN medicine. The university:
- Trains doctors in how to perform late-term abortions through an 18-month fellowship;
- Supplies abortionists to Planned Parenthood;
- Harvests fetal body parts for use in research.
Wash U has attempted to cover these horrendous activities with a “story line” that the endowment tax targets them for training OBGYN’s to perform D&C’s procedure. However, this amendment isn’t about D&Cs. It is about a university colluding with the abortion industry at a level most people would find appalling if they knew the full extent of it.
I refuse to allow this to continue unchallenged. When the next tax bill comes to the Senate floor, you can ‘bet your bottom dollar’ I’ll be offering this amendment again. I hope next time, more of my Republican colleagues find the courage to vote on this MRL rated vote and stand up for the unborn.
