Missouri state Sen. Bob Onder (R) is a little upset, you see. His beloved city recently passed a law forbidding employers and landlords from discrimination against women who have had abortions and it’s just so unfair. State Sen. Onder is really concerned about reproductive health, which totally makes sense a since he’s a trained allergist and has probably seen the devastation caused by women having control over their own bodies in his line of work.
That’s why he’s trying to do the noble job of publicly displaying his disgust of the millions of American women who dared exercise their right to choose to not carry a pregnancy to term. He somehow found the most perfect vehicle for his anti-choice, pro-death crusade: the St. Louis Zoo.
Yeah, I’m scratching my head, too.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, linked the two issues in a lengthy debate on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying he was wary of supporting a push to tax residents in counties surrounding St. Louis when the city has made itself what he calls an “abortion sanctuary city.”
Under an amendment filed to the zoo tax proposal, Onder said the zoo should have to change its name to “The Midwest Abortion Sanctuary City Zoological Park.”
“It’s beautiful,” Onder said of his proposed name change. “Hey, you come to us asking for the tax authorization, we might put some conditions on it, okay?”
Um. I know they say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but this is a bit much. And many folks agree. In a statement, the Zoo Association president Joseph T. Ambrose responded with:
“Although this amendment is shocking, we know Sen. Onder supports the cultural institutions of the St. Louis region, including the Zoo. We believe that this amendment does not reflect the senator’s regard for the Zoo and that it is meant to draw attention to unrelated issues.”
Wow, somebody get Mr. Ambrose a medal. That was the nicest translation of ”This is some ridiculous bullsh*t“ I’ve ever seen.