Only 120 Volunteers
Needed
to Stop Forced Abortions
Circulation of Missouri Petition Initiative Has Begun
St. Louis, MO (March 19, 2008) - Organizers of a Missouri petition initiative that would reduce the risk of women being pressured into unwanted and unsafe abortions have begun the process of gathering the 85,000 signatures needed to put the measure before voters in November.
According to Janice Lewis, an organizer of the petition drive for the Stop Forced Abortions Alliance, the group is seeking 120 individuals or church groups to circulate the petition. "On average, we need only about 1,000 signatures per county," said Lewis. "We need only about 120 people to coordinate small groups of friends or church groups to gather the signatures. All the instructions and paperwork people need are on our website, www.StopForcedAbortions.org."
If passed, the initiative petition would make it easier for women to sue abortion providers for negligence if they fail to screen for coercion or other risk factors which put women at higher risk of psychological or emotional complications after an abortion.
"This measure will put an end to
negligent, one-size-fits-all, assembly-line abortion
counseling," says Paula Talley, another organizer of the
group. "If this law had been in place in 1980, I would
have been spared the years of grief and depression which
followed my own unwanted abortion.
The group's goal of improving screening standards,
Talley says, has indirectly received an endorsement from
an unexpected source, Britain's Royal College of
Psychiatrists. On March 14th, the Royal College issued a
statement recognizing studies linking abortion to mental
health problems and recommending the screening of women
prior to an abortion for risk factors associated with a
higher risk of mental health problems.
The Royal College's report followed the highly
publicized suicide of artist Emma Beck following the
abortion of her twins. Beck's suicide note stated:
"Living is hell for me. I should never have had an
abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum. I want
to be with my babies; they need me, no one else does."
"Tragedies like the death of Emma
Beck can be avoided by proper pre-abortion screening,"
says Lewis. "Our volunteers can help protect women from
the negligence which leads to thousands of unwanted,
unsafe, and unnecessary abortions every year in
Missouri."
Talley agrees. "This is a very pro-woman law. The only
people who can oppose this common sense measure are
those who care less about women than they do about the
profits of the abortion industry."
Planned Parenthood attorneys have filed suit in Cole
County challenging the ballot summary issued by
Secretary of State Carnahan in relation to the Stop
Forced Abortions Alliance's initiative.
###
Regarding Royal College of Psychiatrists' Statement and
Emma Beck: see "Royal
college warns abortions can lead to mental illness"
TimesOnline.co.uk accessed March 18, 2008
###
A copy of the new initiative language is available for viewing at www.stopforcedabortions.org