Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Missouri Governor Matt Blunt has called for a new state task force to examine the myriad of ways abortions hurts women by causing either medical, mental health or other problems. Blunt has put together the Governor's Task Force on the Impact of Abortion on Women at a time when abortion advocates say abortion benefits women.Blunt answered questions about the new task force at a press conference Monday.
"This is a very informal group of good people who believe in advancing the cause of life and believe that we should minimize the impact of abortion on society," he said.
The governor admitted that the panel, which includes prominent pro-life advocates, will likely conclude that abortion is harmful to women.
"I certainly would begin with the presumption that abortion has a negative impact on Missouri children, Missouri women, Missouri men, because it's harmful to society," Blunt said, according to an AP report.
Cindy Province, a co-founder of the Center for Bioethics and Culture-Missouri, who helped select the members of the panel said it will seek out "truthful, honest information" from researchers.
Predictably, Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, told the Associated Press he opposes the creation of the new panel. He said he would provide it with pro-abortion studies supposedly showing abortion is beneficial for women.
"My first reaction is that I doubt this governor is particularly interested in an objective overview of the impact of abortion," Brownlie said.
Women who know best about the positive or negative aspects of abortion applauded the governor for establishing the task force.
Leaders of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, the nation's largest network of women and men testifying to the harm they've endured from abortion, praised Blunt.
"The evidence for the devastation wrought by abortion is everywhere," said Georgette Forney, co-founder of the group who had an abortion when she was 17.
"Thousands of women in our network alone can give full accounts of both the physical and lasting emotional trauma caused by so called 'safe and legal' abortion," Forney told LifeNews.com. "Governor Blunt is doing a great service not only for his state, but for women all over the country."
"This is extremely important work the Governor is undertaking," added Janet Morana, another co-founder of the post-abortion group. "Abortion is more than a personal decision. It impacts entire families, communities, and our nation as a whole."
Since the pair launched the group, in 2003, 2,326 women and men have shared their testimonies publicly about how they regret their abortion or participation in one and the devastation it caused them and their loved ones.
Related web sites:
Silent No More Awareness Campaign - http://www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org
