Missouri lawmaker kind of, sort of gets it, a little

Antiabortion state rep doesnt hate emergency contraception.

Published December 21, 2005 1:12PM (EST)

I wouldn't go so far as to say we heart him, but Broadsheet would like to at least smile coyly, then look away, at Missouri state Rep. Michael Corcoran (D).

According to a recent column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Corcoran is "a proud Catholic who could generally be counted on to vote for any legislative effort to discourage abortions." Right. Heart? Not.

But! Corcoran also recently appeared at a Planned Parenthood event, where he went so far as to say that he probably would not oppose restrictions on emergency contraception. (The event was intended to fire up opposition to a series of anti-reproductive-rights measures likely to be introduced in the Missouri Legislature next year, including one that would require a prescription for Plan B even if the FDA approved it for over-the-counter use.) While Corcoran stopped short of saying he'd defend Plan B with every fiber of his being, he did say this: "I'm fully behind Planned Parenthood and their prevention of unintended pregnancies. To me, this is about funding programs to reduce the number of abortions."

Though it pains us to praise anyone for noticing that the sky is blue -- that is, that emergency contraception just might help reduce abortions, or that finding ways to reduce the number of abortions = good -- we're glad at least someone in his camp is, publicly, sort of, kind of connecting a couple of dots. And it's nice to see that pro-abortion-rights politicians aren't the only ones feeling compelled to reach out to the other side.

We also like that Corcoran ticked off Missouri Right to Life. "If he's at a Planned Parenthood event," harrumphed the group's president, Pam Fichter, "that speaks for itself." Yup!


By Lynn Harris

Award-winning journalist Lynn Harris is author of the comic novel "Death by Chick Lit" and co-creator of BreakupGirl.net. She also writes for the New York Times, Glamour, and many others.

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