Rep. Mike Moon is over the moon about Governor Greitens’ special anti-abortion show boat session. Moon is the sponsor of a bill to ban abortion in the state so he is in tune with Greitens aspirations though he wants to go even further and ban abortion entirely, to hell with the legalities suggested by Roe v. Wade.

Moon, though, seems to have confused abortion with meat processing. After killing and eviscerating a chicken on camera, he had this to say:

… “God gave man dominion over life. He allows us to raise animals properly, and care for them, and then process them for food so we can sustain life,” he said. “And that’s what I’m doing here.”

He then switched gears and seemed to compare abortion to the chicken heart, “the heart of the matter,” he had extracted. He later tweeted disdainfully “some people seem to be freaking out about the chicken video. I wonder if they know what an abortion is?” Which dodges the question of whether or not Moon knows what an abortion is.

I think that, if I can follow the logic, Moon thinks that abortion has something to do with chicken processing and food production.

In which case, I’m put in mind of the the late 17th and early 18th century satirist, Jonathan Swift. In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift parodied the indifference and cruelty of the Mike Moons of his time by suggesting that the problems of poverty and widespread starvation in Ireland cold be solved by breeding and selling the children of the poor for food. Especially relevant to Moon’s performance is the fact that Swift writes that breeding babies for food might resolve the situation wherein women too poor to feed their children resorted to abortion:

There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us! sacrificing the poor innocent babes I doubt more to avoid the expense than the shame, which would move tears and pit in the most savage and inhuman breast.

Alas, though such irony may be lost on Moon, he is no stranger to bizarre and mean-minded rhetoric. He has recently distinguished himself by calling on Congress to repeal Obamacare with “manly firmness” . A couple of years ago, he called for a special session of the state legislature to stop the “Islamification” of Missouri by keeping out Syrian refugees, whom he also seems to regard as potential – but undesirable – food items, claiming that in his experience “a practicing Muslim comes in all flavors (black, white, brown, yellow American, African, European, etc. etc.).”

Is Moon maybe trying to out-Swift Swift?

*Slightly revised for clarity (11:34 am 6/14/2017),

Representative Mike Moon (r) received a letter (all correspondence was forwarded to us by the original letter writer) about the Planned Parenthood hearings in Missouri which were run by the republican majority in the General Assembly. Similar hearings and “investigations” were promoted across across the country, precipitated by edited video circulated by anti-choice activists.

Oct 15, 2015

State Representative Michael Moon
State Capitol, Room 203-B
201 West Capitol Avenue
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear State Representative Moon,

Planned Parenthood has been “under investigation” in both the House and Senate for months and it’s time to move on.

Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri follow all laws and have the highest medical and ethical standards. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster recently released a 40 page report demonstrating that Planned Parenthood complies with all laws and that fetal tissue is properly handled according to Missouri law.

Missouri’s interim committees were formed in response to false allegations made in a series of deceptively edited, widely discredited videos. The Attorney General report settles this issue and there is no reason for the committees to continue except to further what has been called a “witch hunt,” and pursue the agenda of ending access to safe, legal abortion in the state.

I’m tired of seeing my tax dollars being wasted on this non-issue when you could be investing your time and our money into tackling issues that will foster better lives for more Missourians, like comprehensive sex education or by increasing access to affordable health care by expanding Medicaid.

I’m proud to stand with Planned Parenthood and the women and men who rely on them every single day, and I hope that you will see this and move on.

Sincerely,

Ms. Mary Mosley
[….]

Planned Parenthood had provided a link, with a template, for its supporters to contact the General Assembly committee via e-mail. Supporters could (and some did) write additional comments on the template message. Ms. Mosley received the following response from Representative Moon (r):

Mary,

Thank you for contacting me. I noticed the message you sent was a form letter of sorts. You may not even be aware that a letter was sent on your behalf (if this is the case, I understand). If you did, intentionally, send to me a form letter, please understand that I would have taken a personal, heart-felt letter, in your own words much more seriously.

In either case, since your letter was a form letter, maybe even a copied-and-pasted one, I will formulate a response and send the same to you and the others from whom I received an identical message.

You are correct that since the videos of Planned Parenthood’s alleged involvement in the selling of unborn baby parts an investigation in the Missouri House and Senate has taken place.

Following the report released by MO Attorney General Chris Koster, it has been found that the pathology lab Planned Parenthood used to examine the remains of the unborn babies was, on at least three occasions dissolved as a Missouri business. In fact, on September 21, 2015, during the AG’s investigation, the most recent letter from the MO Secretary of State to Pathology Services, 2916 S. Brentwood Blvd, Brentwood, MO 63144, notifying the lab of its dissolution was sent. Even if this is the only oversight in the AG’s report, they (the lab and Planned Parenthood) were operating outside of the law with regard to the proper handling of the bodies.

“Your” letter mentioned you tire of your tax dollars being wasted on this non-issue when the money could be invested into tackling issues that will foster better lives for more Missourians, like more affordable healthcare. I, too, am tired of my tax dollars being used to prop up business, like Planned Parenthood. As for affordable healthcare, the Affordable Care Act promised to provide it to those who need it most. Your attention, perhaps, should be directed to President Obama.

The committees invited representatives from Planned Parenthood to testify and, perhaps, set the record straight, yet no Missouri Planned Parenthood representative dared to be questioned. Why, if they had nothing to hide and could have presented their side of the story, would they “waste” your tax money and not show up to the hearing?

In addition, Gail Vasterling, former Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services testified about one month ago, would not provide any substantive answers. We recently learned that she has left the department for another state funded job. What does she have to hide? Would you not expect a state employee, entrusted with the care of thousands of our fellow citizens to be transparent in answering questions about the job she and her staff are hired to perform? This behavior is what we all should be in concerned about. This is truly a waste of our money. For a state employee, entrusted with such a great responsibility, to be allowed to simply resign one appointment and assume another should not be tolerated. I will urge the House budget Chair and Vice-chair to seriously consider striking from the budget the salary for Gail Vasterling.

One point “your” letter did not address is a key issue in the current debate: that of women’s health. I’ve listed a few of the potential risks of an abortion here:

– abdominal pain;
– nausea;
– vomiting;
– diarrhea;
– spotting (bleeding);
– infection (sepsis);
– scarring of the uterus;
– uterine perforation;
– organ damage;
– depression (leading to suicide);
– death.

I find it ironic that we caution women against drinking copious amounts of alcohol and smoking because of the potential detrimental effects on the unborn baby, yet we find it acceptable to suck a baby out of the womb or inject the womb with a saline solution in order to kill the baby.

Have you any understanding of the history of Planned Parenthood? Its founder, Margaret Sanger was a known eugenicist (one who follows the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics). Eugenics lost its popularity following the demise of Adolf Hitler.

The following are excerpts from Sanger:

“It seems to me from my experience…that while the colored Negroes have great respect for white doctors they can get closer to their own members and more or less lay their cards on the table which means their ignorance, superstitions and doubts. We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal.

We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King stated, “The most obvious practitioner of racism in the United States today is Planned Parenthood, an organization founded by the eugenicist Margaret Sanger and recently documented as ready to accept money to eliminate black babies.”

Planned Parenthood recently decided to no longer seek re-imbursement for providing baby parts to researchers. If, in fact, there was no wrongdoing, why the sudden reversal?

I encourage you to contact your own representative and begin a conversation about this important topic. As for me, though, I have settled in my mind that all lives matter, including women and the unborn babies they nurture.

Mike

“…a form letter of sorts…”

Uh, you think this response didn’t have pre-canned elements? Just asking.

We don’t think Representative Moon (r) understands the concept of Godwin’s Law.

The original letter writer has sent a somewhat diplomatic response:

The Honorable Michael Moon
State Capitol, Room 203B
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101

Dear Representative Moon:

I am in receipt of your electronic communication of October 17, 2015. Thank you for taking the time to respond at such length to my e-mail concerning the House committee hearings on Planned Parenthood. Since you indicated that you “would have taken a personal, heart-felt letter, in [my] own words much more seriously,” I am writing you one forthwith.

In spite of my gratitude for your lengthy missive with its ample disquisition on eugenics, one thing about it disturbed me, namely its incredibly sarcastic and condescending tone. In my fifty years of corresponding with elected officials, this is the single most insulting response I have ever received, even when my disagreement with the ideas of my correspondent had been expressed in much stronger language. Could it have been your way of figuratively “mooning” me? Or perhaps your legislative assistant or another employee wrote the communication on your behalf, perhaps without your knowledge or approval. You may not even be aware that a letter was sent on your behalf (if this is the case, I understand).

Be that as it may, your response clearly indicates a concern for those to whom you refer as “unborn babies.” It is also a clear indication of your regard for the already born.

Sincerely,
Dr. Mary A. Mosley

“…It is also a clear indication of your regard for the already born…”

Ten will get you twenty that he didn’t get that.

Previously:

HB 2256: It’s April, fools… (April 1, 2014)

The Missouri GOP, Evel Knievel and political stuntsmanship (April 24, 2014)

DLCC “Worst of the Worst” List – we already knew that (May 1, 2014)

HB 216: Agenda 21! (December 15, 2014)

HR 99: Because words mean nothing? (February 10, 2015)

Mike Moon: The sexism is expected; the cruelty is is the problem (February 10, 2015)

HB 1108: For what purpose? (March 5, 2015)

HCR 54: derp, derp, derp, derp… (March 13, 2015)

That’s quite a legacy of lunatic fringe legislation…