Bonus Blog Against Theocracy: Misery Missouri loves company ... as long as it's fundie

The framers of the Constitution are doing about 5,000 rpm in their graves right now, thanks to the latest heinous assault on the separation of church and state. (I'm considering this a bonus post for the Blog Against Theocracy, which officially ended on Wednesday. But this is too important to pass up.)

As a former resident of Missouri (in St. Louis, for law school and after, 1991-96), I'm absolutely appalled by the latest legislation signed by right-wing fundamentalist lunatic governor Matt Blunt (R-ight hand of God the Father) yesterday.

Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Friday placing more abortion clinics under government oversight by classifying them as ambulatory surgical centers. Planned Parenthood for Kansas and Mid-Missouri claimed the law could force it to spend up to $2 million to remodel one of its clinics and halt medical abortions at another site.

Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood for the St. Louis Region, predicted that when the new law takes effect Aug. 28, St. Louis could end up with the only remaining abortion clinic in the state.

Reproductive Health Services, run by Planned Parenthood at 4251 Forest Park Avenue, is fully licensed and won't be affected by the new law, Gianino said.

But St. Louis Planned Parenthood would be affected by the law's provision that bars people affiliated with abortion providers from teaching or supplying materials for sex education courses in public schools, and it allows schools to offer abstinence-only programs.

Even if the provision of the law requiring clinics to be fully licensed as surgical facilities is defensible (for the sake of argument), the emphasis on abstinence-only is not only demonstrably ineffective but foolhardy as well. Indeed, under the new law, Missouri public school students will get only a portion of the education they need to be fully aware of legal options available to them, and so Missouri, which as of 2005 ranked 22nd among all states in the rate of teen pregnancy, can expect to race up that list in the future.

But what's really causing the supersonic rotisserie effect in the graves of the Framers is that Gov. Blunt wasn't even subtle about the fundamentalist influence on this legislation. In fact, you might even say he was quite blunt about it:

Blunt proclaimed the law "one of the strongest pieces of pro-life legislation in Missouri history" as he spoke from a cross-shaped lectern during a signing ceremony in the sanctuary of Concord Baptist Church [in Jefferson City].

A Republican, Blunt said he has no qualms if the stricter state oversight causes hardships for abortion clinics.

"I say if they can't meet the same basic requirements that other (medical) providers do, then they should shut down," Blunt said.

Jesus H. Christ on a Triscuit with cheese spread and chives. You can't be any more blatant about merging church and state than signing an anti-choice bill at a Baptist church, can you? In essence, Gov. Blunt just gave the rational people of Missouri, and the whole country, a great big fundamentalist "fuck you," secure in the knowledge that even if legal challenges to this go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court will render another 5-4 decision in his favor.

Truly, I lament what my country has become under theocratic rule. It will take years, if not decades, to restore America to being the "land of the free," rather than the "land of the 'saved.' "