The Missouri Legislature elected in 2010 is extremely Republican dominated, and dominated by some of the worst and most extreme elements of that extremist party. By overwhelming margins, that Legislature passed a law allowing employers and insurers to to decide not to provide birth control coverage based on "religous" or other "moral" reasons. This is Republican heaven: your employer or insurance company can prevent you from getting birth control pills under your insurance. Putting your boss into your uterus.
Jay Nixon is the Democratic Governor of Missouri, and he's not the most liberal or even moderate of governors, but also not willing to sell out the rights of women. Today he vetoed that odious bill:
JEFFERSON CITY • Gov. Jay Nixon today vetoed a bill that would have allowed employers and insurers to decide not to provide coverage for abortion, contraception or sterilization if such procedures run contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.
snip
In fact, he said, the bill would undermine the current protections because it would let an insurance company "impose its will, and deny inclusion of contraceptive coverage, even if that position is inconsistent with the rights and beliefs of the employee or employer."
At a news conference in his Capitol office this morning, Nixon said he vetoed the bill because "we want families making these decisions -- not insurance companies."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Republicans plan to try to override the veto:
The bill is SB749. It passed in May on votes of 105-33 in the House and 28-6 in the Senate. An override would require 109 votes in the House and 23 votes in the Senate.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Regulations can preempt state laws if they conflict directly with them. Geier v. American Honda Motor Co., 529 U.S. 861, 884 (2000). It would seem to me that the federal regulation under the Affordable Care Act requiring birth control coverage would preempt this state law under the Supremacy Clause. It seems like a clear case of conflict preemption. But who knows how a court would rule? Better to defeat this when they try to over-ride the veto.
I'm glad Governor Nixon stood up for the people of Missouri, and especially the women, by vetoing this bill.
if you want to say thanks, you can Donate to Jay Nixon For Governor He's running for re-election this November, and favored to win.