State rep candidate Jennings takes issue with opponent on abortion

(This letter, issued by the campaign of Vincent Jennings, the Democratic candidate for state representative in the 157th District, takes issue with recent statements by the incumbent, Republican Mike Moon on the issue of abortion.)

"It is extremely reckless of a State Rep with a limited knowledge of Constitiutional law to challenge not only the Missouri Constitution but also the decision of Roe v. Wade."

The 14th Amendment has five sections. Rep. Moon cites the second part of section 1 which says,
"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Please note the phrase "without due process of law". Clearly this is reference to criminal or civil rights violation of a person, not an unborn child.

Furthermore, Rep Moon left out the fifth section of Amendment 14 which states "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.".Thus there is no remedy for a Missouri State Representative to try to ban abortion under the 14th Amendment since only Congress has the ability to enforce or modify the 14th Amendment.

"It is true that Chapter 1.205, subsection 1, says 'The life of each human being begins at conception." Everyone knows life begins when a sperm and egg unite. The question is, "when does personhood begin?" Scholars have been debating this for years. Most agree personhood begins when a baby is "viable" which is defined as "the shortest length of pregnancy after which a child that is born prematurely has a chance of survival. " Premature babies 5 months along can survive birth with intensive care and incubators. So, for the sake of arguement, lets say personhood begins then.
Most abortions are performed within 12 weeks of conception.. A fetus is not viable under any circumstances during that period

Missouri has strict guidelines concerning abortions.

Section 188.020 states "No person shall perform or induce an abortion except a physician."
. 188.025." Every abortion performed at sixteen weeks gestational age or later shall be performed in a hospital."
Section 188.027 provides, “No abortion shall be performed except with the prior, informed and written consent freely given of the pregnant woman.” unless it is a medical emergency where the patient is not able to give consent due to being unconcious,

The two main keys of Missouri abortions are consent of the woman and the abortion being performed by a physician. People have been convicted in criminal court due to the death of an unborn fetus. However, in those cases, the act is usually a violent assault on a pregnant woman without her consent and usually the person commiting the crime is not a physician,

The main concern of Vincent Jennings are the extremists in the Missouri Legislature who want to remove any abortion a woman may want to have for any reason. "This is a very dangerous path to take because it eliminates any remedies or options of when a woman can decide to have a family and nullifies the circumstances of conception such as rape or incest. And it doesn't take into consideration the physical or mental state of the pregnant woman if she can safely carry the unborn to full term."
"Missouri already has the strictest abortion laws on the books. Women's rights were restricted more last month during the veto session. The waiting period for an abortion was extended to 72 hours. What will it be expanded to next session? One week? One month? Or as Rep, Moon said during the waiting period debate. 'There should a nine month waiting period for an abortion'."