Missouri Senate Drops Amendment That Would Fund Abortions

Key Republicans are lobbying fellow GOP lawmakers to nix an amendment attached to a Senate bill relating to Medicaid taxes hospitals pay that would bar the use of public money for "contraceptive treatments," including abortion. Majority Floor Leader Sen. Caleb Rowden, Columbia, Senate President Dave Schatz, Sullivan, and Senate Appropriations Committee chair Sen. Dan Hegeman, Crosby, all say the amendment could endanger Missouri's entire Medicaid program because contraception coverage is required under federal law. The amendment, filed by Sen Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, was attached to Hegeman's Senate Bill 1, which would extend the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) for another year, in a 21-12 vote on March 25. Hegeman introduced SB 1 onto the Senate floor stripped of Wieland's amendment, prompting a floor fracas that resulted in the bill being withdrawn. Read more...


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