Jeff City Two

Green Jacket Lady scared me. So did John Lamping. Green Jacket serves on Planned Parenthood's board of directors. Lamping ran his election campaign draped in the robes of Pro-Life and represents my district in the state senate. Green Jacket didn't ride the St. Louis bus. But she joined my group for our meeting with Lamping. Green Jacket overpowers. Lamping feels empowered. Until Green Jacket had her say, no one else in our group was given a say. Within the first minute of our meeting, Green Jacket talked about protecting Planned Parenthood and abortion. We weren't there to talk about abortion. But once the word is uttered, it hangs like an ugly cloud, making it difficult to think about anything else. Lamping listened to Green Jacket, spoke smoothly about looking for common ground, then just as smoothly, called us "anti-lifers." Green Jacket didn't like it. Lamping apologized, then called us anti-lifers again. Green Jacket let it pass. Lamping mentioned efforts to stop human trafficking in Missouri. Green Jacket nodded in agreement. Then she asked the rest of us what we wanted to talk about. With the word abortion out on the table, I don't believe anything I said about the contraception and sex education bills proposed in the House mattered to Lamping. He noted that pro-lifers put him in office. I left wondering if Lamping understood serving as a senator means representing everyone in the district, not just those who like him. I left disappointed with Green Jacket. If she had ridden the bus from St. Louis, she would have known what we were there to talk about. Perhaps she would have known our names, or maybe even let us talk first. We had points to make. We had common ground to cover. No one wants pregnant teenagers. But the abortion word, so quickly said, gets in the way and defines the conversation. Tomorrow, more stuff.