Turning the Legislature’s attention to Veterans’ issues and religious freedom
On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of proposing Senate Concurrent Resolution 18 to the Committee on Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is tasked with finding missing veterans for the veterans’ families. In our state, there are missing-personnel cases that need to be resolved. Senate Concurrent Resolution 18 would urge the agency to prioritize resolving the cases of 15 Missourians from the Vietnam War. I look forward to the Senate and the agency emphasizing the importance of bringing closure to our Missouri veterans’ families.
This is personal. This is who I am. As a Vietnam veteran, I was taught that we will leave no comrade behind. That was one of our pillars during service. Nothing about that has changed now that I am a civilian. I will work tirelessly to ensure that our veterans — both our fallen ones and those who are with us today — have a voice. And the time and effort that we will devote to helping our veterans’ families are only fractions of the time and effort that our veterans devoted when they laid down their lives for us and made that ultimate sacrifice.
Before I began my 25-year journey with the United States Air Force, I did an important thing: I took an oath to support the United States Constitution. In my inductions into to both the Missouri House and Senate, I not only took that oath again but I also took an oath to defend the Constitution of Missouri. And one of the many guarantees in our state constitution is found in Article 1, Section 5. That section says that no government “can control or interfere with the rights of conscience” and that a citizen’s right to pray or express religious beliefs shall not be “infringed”.
I take my constitutional oath and duty seriously. So, it should come as no surprise that I took action to address a local law that I and thousands of other Missouri citizens believe interferes with our rights of conscience and religious and moral expressions.
On Monday, I defended on the Senate floor one of my bills, Senate Bill 41, which would support my oath and uphold our constitutional rights. In February, a St. Louis ordinance went into effect. The ordinance essentially created a protected class for abortion activists and providers. In other words, the ordinance compels people who do not support abortion to effectively accept abortion as a part of a good belief system.
On the floor, I gave a scenario that shows the broadness of this St. Louis ordinance: A nonprofit organization was founded to provide alternatives to abortion to women and has a mission that discourages abortion. If the organization dismisses one of its employees because he or she did not uphold the organization’s mission, disagreed with the organization’s stance on abortion, and differed with the lifestyles of the organization’s members, that organization could be held in violation of the ordinance.
During debate, it seemed as though some of my colleagues had a misunderstanding of SB 41’s purpose. As I said repeatedly, the purpose of this bill is not to restrict abortion. The purpose of the bill, however, is to ensure that people who have moral and conscientious objections are not compelled to comply with this ordinance.
Our Founders understood the importance of religious freedom and moral expression so much so that our rights to exercise our religion and to speak our conscience freely are the first rights mentioned in our Bill of Rights. And, for the sake of rights, our constitutions and democracy, governments need not interfere with citizens expressing their religious and moral beliefs and attempting to live by those beliefs.
We try our best to practice our moral codes in our everyday lives — in our homes, schools, churches and businesses. And we cannot be eager to hand over our religious and moral practices — the things that make us who we are — for governmental examination.
I urge you to contact me with any questions or concerns you have about state government so that I can better represent you during the 2017 legislative session.
Contact Me
I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions, and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-2459. You may write me at Wayne Wallingford, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or email at wayne.wallingford@senate.mo.gov or www.senate.mo.gov/wallingford.
If you would like to stop receiving these weekly updates, please send an email here.