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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Governor Vetoes ‘Sharia’ Law Prohibition

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CN) - Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a bill that would make it illegal for Missouri to enforce any foreign law or legal decision "repugnant or inconsistent" with Missouri or U.S. law.

Nixon, a Democrat, said that in the Legislature's zeal to address an imaginary problem, it created a real one for parents seeking foreign adoptions.

The bill did not specify Islamic Sharia law, but it was part of a movement by right-wing lawmakers in more than 20 states who have supported similar bills.

Nixon's written veto message said the bill could create a chilling effect on international adoptions by Missouri families.

Nixon said it also could invite retaliation from a foreign country by denying all adoptions to Missourians.

Missourians adopted more than 5,850 foreign children from 1999 to 2011, Nixon's office said.

State Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, said there was nothing in the bill to endanger foreign adoptions.

"If he would have said the bill might cause an invasion of flying armadillos, that would have been just as valid," Nieves told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Nieves said he is considering whether to seek an override. If he does not, he said, he will reintroduce the bill, with language protecting foreign adoptions.

The bill passed the Senate by 24-9 vote and the House by 109-41.

If those votes stood in an override attempt, the Senate would have one more yes vote than needed and the House would have exactly the amount needed to override a veto.

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