Missouri Right To Life Letter May Endanger Economic Development Bill

March 12, 2008 - A letter circulated by Missouri Right to Life (MRL) in opposition to one part of the economic development bill threatens to endanger the swift passage of the bill. Click here for a copy of the letter. If you are in favor of an increase in the Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zone caps and are supportive of the other provisions of the bill, including the Angel Investment Tax Credit, you need to let your legislators know as soon as possible.

The MRL letter mentions various provisions of the Angel Investment Tax Credit that is part of the Grow Me State Initiative and included in HB 2058. The MRL letter states they oppose the bill because the Missouri Technology Corporation is in charge of the tax credit and they imply the tax credit may be used for Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer cloning. Nothing in the bill promotes or references cloning. Though misguided, this strategy has been effective in derailing legislation totally unrelated to cloning. We do not want this to happen to the economic development bill.

The Missouri Right to Life's recent legislative scorecard has been the topic of public discussion in the Senate this session. The scorecard showed many legislators that are noted as pro-choice on the NARAL website as voting more in favor of pro-life legislation than other legislators that are considered by NARAL to be pro-life.