Ninth District candidates debate abortion rights
Democrat Ken Jacob and Republican Bob Onder squared off without the other candidates.
June 10, 2008
A political fissure that has divided American voters for decades made itself visible in the center aisle of Waters Auditorium Thursday evening, when two candidates for Missouri’s Ninth Congressional District debated a bill dealing with abortion.
Former State Sen. Ken Jacob, a Democratic hopeful for the seat, debated State Rep. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, over a bill Onder proposed in the General Assembly this year that, if it had passed, would have made criminal penalties for coercing a woman into having an abortion.
The night of the debate, Onder supporters sat on the east side of the auditorium, while audience members that seemed to show more support for Jacob’s arguments sat on the west side.
Jacob said he issued a challenge to all of the Republicans running for the seat to do the debate, and offered to let them pick the topic for contention. He said Onder agreed to do the debate and chose abortion as the topic.
“Voters need a better look at the candidates than thirty-second TV spots and a lot of postcards in their mailbox.” Jacob said.
The debate was conducted Lincoln-Douglas style, in which there is no moderator and the participants are free to interrogate each other openly. The candidates began the debate arguing the provisions of Onder’s abortion bill.
Onder’s sponsored legislation would have made coercing an abortion a felony and defines coercing as abusing or threatening the expectant mother, threatening loss of employment or change in compensation, or a threatening to terminate a scholarship.
The bill would have also required physicians performing an abortion to provide printed materials to the mother that contain information about the unborn child’s anatomical characteristics, and the physicians would be required to give the mother an opportunity to view an ultrasound and present them with information on alternatives to abortion.
The bill passed in the House in April with a 113-33 vote and was sent to a Senate subcommittee, but the session ended before the full Senate voted on the bill.
Onder said the bill was a “common sense” measure and also said incremental abortion restrictions may be a contributing factor to decreasing rates of abortion in recent years.
“Joseph Stalin once very cynically remarked ‘one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic,’” Onder said during the debate. “I’ve lived most of my life in the shadow of Roe v. Wade, and its still not a statistic to me.”
Jacob said Onder’s measure impedes on doctor-patient relations, is akin to gender-based discrimination and is an example of “ideological propaganda.”
“It appears to me that the motivating factor behind your bill seems to suggest that women are weak, that they are confused and they can be coerced and they can’t be held responsible for their choices.” Jacob said during the debate.
While debating the bill, the tone of the debate was orderly, as if the two statesmen were squaring off on the floor of the General Assembly. Afterward, the candidates allowed questions and comments from the audience, and the atmosphere in the auditorium subsequently became more emotionally charged. Loud cheers erupted from each side of the room in response to their respective candidates’ remarks, and, at times, audience members made comments to the candidates instead of asking them questions.
Sean Spence, a Democratic candidate for the 25th district and a former employee of Jacob said the debate was energetic and described the candidates as “gutsy” for deciding to debate the issue.
“Both men have my respect.” Spence said.
Truman State University student Angela Carter, who said she is an abortion rights advocate, asked the candidates their views on sex education during the debate and said she did not like the questions and comments portion of the event, where the candidates “were just slinging mud.” She also said she thought Onder supporters in the audience were given more time to speak.
Gabe Jones, a Rockhurst University student and a Columbia resident, who was wearing an “Onder for Congress” sticker, said Jacob gives too much concern to the rights of doctors over unborn children.
“Life is the most fundamental right of any human.” Jones said.
Jacob said he expected the emotional reactions from the audience due to the subject being discussed.
Onder said he was glad people on both sides of the issue attended the event.
“We had some very pro-life people in the room, and we had some employees of Planned Parenthood in the room.” Onder said.
Ninth District candidates State Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, and former Missouri Tourism Director Blaine Luetkemeyer – who is running on the Republican side – publicly criticized the debate when it was announced.
On Wednesday, Marion County Presiding Commissioner Lyndon Bode, a Democrat running for the seat, said in a release that he, unlike his fellow Democrats running for the seat, is an abortion rights opponent, and the decision by his competitors to hold the debate has helped his campaign.
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