The Missouri Senate adjourned early this week, due to an approaching winter storm. As this legislative column is written, a winter storm warning is in effect for Jefferson City, and most of the Show-Me State is anticipated to see ice or snow. Please stay safe if you must travel on the roads, and keep your home supplied with any necessary emergency supplies, in the event of a power outage. Again, please stay safe and take weather precautions seriously.

Before lawmakers returned home to be with their families, early week committee hearings continued, and one of my bills addressing the conscience rights of our state’s citizens and businesses (SB 84) was considered by the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. This legislation represents my serious dedication to protecting the values of Missourians in the medical field, who, all too often, are faced with situations that contradict their moral beliefs. I do not hesitate to stand up for this important issue. Last year, I co-sponsored a bill (SB 749) to prevent employers and health care providers from being obligated to provide coverage for certain services that are contrary to their moral or religious beliefs. Even when the measure was vetoed by the governor, I stood at the front of the battlefield and the Missouri Senate was able to override the veto.

Senate Bill 84 would provide conscience protection for medical professionals with regard to specified medical procedures or research. “Specified medical procedures or research” includes services such as abortion, contraception, human cloning, and human embryonic stem-cell research. No medical professional would be held civilly, criminally, or administratively liable for declining to participate in these types of procedures. The bill also outlines that a health care institution must provide a consent form to be signed by the patient before admission that states it has the right to decline to provide the types of research and procedures outlined in the bill.

The bottom line is that Missouri should not force its health care professionals to perform a service that goes against their moral or religious beliefs. We cannot allow physicians, nurses, and other professionals to go home at the end of the day feeling morally troubled and saddened as a result of a service they were forced to provide. In our great country, we encourage citizens to stand up for what they believe is right and to stand true to their ethical and religious beliefs. The same principles need to be applied to our good professionals in the medical industry.

I appreciate you reading this legislative column and for your interest in state government. If you have any questions regarding SB 84, please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol office. Thank you and God bless.