“The Speaker wants to see you in his office.”
A state trooper conveyed that message to me.
I was on the House floor, waiting for today’s floor session to begin.
Was I being summoned to the principal’s office?
Thankfully, not.
I had company –the leadership of the Appropriations Committee.
The State operating budget would be debated today. Amendments had been drafted to reduce Medicaid-funded abortions. I was asked to speak against them.
One amendment would eliminate abortions for mental health reasons; the other would prohibit third-trimester abortions.
The current language is nearly 40 years old.
When I was first here, we tried to expand the conditions when Medicaid would fund an abortion.
That effort failed. Then we enacted the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. The voters approved the bill on referendum in 1992.
When I spoke on the floor, I read from that law, which I had asked committee counsel to provide me after the Speaker’s office meeting.
The amendments failed, 48-84 (mental health), and 54-79 (3rd trimester).
A friend and pro-choice lobbyist wrote, “Thanks as always for standing up for the right to choose this morning!”
“The right to choose means a lot to both of us,” I replied.
Someone else wrote, “What does it feel like to stand up to oppose the Medicaid abortion floor amendment for what feels like 20 straight years?”
When it means a great deal to you and you win, it still feels very good.
