Crossing the Line

One contentious aspect of the Missouri bill is already in place. Anyone who works at an abortion clinic, or at an organization that refers patients to abortion clinics, is now barred from teaching sexual education in Missouri public schools. Hile, who holds a master's in sexual health, has spoken on condoms and safe sex at Oakville High School in St. Louis for 26 years. This year she won't be able to return to Oakville, but educators who promote abstinence until marriage, like those supplied by Lutheran Family and Children’s Services of Missouri, are still allowed in the public schools of Missouri. The Lutheran agency believes the provision is necessary to prevent a conflict of interest. "They say they won't talk about abortion, but once they get in the classroom, who knows?" says Christine Reams, the group's director of community services. "It opens up too many doors having them there."

At the end of the day, Hile wishes there weren't a need for her clinic. "When women stop coming to us, we can find something else to do," she says. But after 28 years of counseling dozens of women each day, she is not optimistic; increasingly restrictive legislation only gives her more reason to think that numbers will not be declining. "You need to have people who are certified and educated in the area and comfortable enough to answer student's questions and answer them with respect and accuracy," says Hile. Now that she can't go to Missouri as an educator, she fears that even more women will be coming to her—after it's too late. Only time will tell whether her fears are well founded.

Editor's Note
The original version of this article contained several inaccuracies regarding Angela Michael a pro-life activist with Small Victories Ministries in Highland, Ill. The story incorrectly reported that Michael lives in an RV outside of Hope Clinic, a reproductive health center in Granite City, Ill. While Michael estimates that she spends between 4 and 5 hours a day outside of the Hope Clinic, she and her family do not reside in the RV and maintain a permanent residence in Highland, Ill. Michael says she counsels women in her RV, which includes an ultrasound machine, and hopes "to be another option or resource for these girls in case they feel like they don't have any."
Michaeloften wears surgical scrubs, which has lead at least one clinic patient to assume that she worked there. However, Michael says she has never posed as a member of the Hope Clinic staff as was reported in the story. "That would be wrong," she says. Michael sees herself as a resource for pregnant women as they deal with difficult decisions. "I feel a camaraderie with these babies that are being abandoned and unwanted," she says. While the story accurately indicated that Michael is not currently licensed as a nurse in Missouri or Illinois, Michael says she does have an associate's degree in nursing though she has been retired for about a decade.

Newsweek regrets the errors.

With Erin Fults in St. Louis

© 2007