Jetton: legislator weakened law against gay couples adopting, mislead colleagues

House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, pulled the committee assignment of a fellow Republican over a change in Jessica's Law. The legislator, Rep. Scott Lipke, R-Jackson, removed 14 words in the law that would have banned gay sex in Missouri. The removal also weakens regulations banning adoption by gay couples.

The Columbia Daily Tribune has a copy of the letter Jetton sent explaining his decision to remove Lipke from the Crime Prevention and Public Safety committee. Jetton said no one caught the change in the final version when the 46-page law was passed last year. Lipke's change was removed in the Senate version, but Lipke reinstated it when it came back to the House.

Jetton conceded that Lipke's assertion that the law was unenforceable because of a 2003 Supreme Court ruling was correct, but said the move was a "big deal" because it makes it easier for gay couples to adopt.

Jetton ended saying that legislators felt they couldn't trust Lipke because of his failure to alert anyone to the original change, or his decision to reintroduce the change after other legislators removed it.