Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has a history of fighting for life and freedom, and he encouraged students at Hannibal-LaGrange University to do the same during HLGU’s recent Free Society Speaker Series.
The Missouri Attorney General told visiting high school and Hannibal-LaGrange students, March 1, of liberating a village overrun by insurgents in one of his two tours of duty in Iran, of adopting three foster children, and about defending the constitution through his elected office.
“I think anyone who’s seen the work that I’ve done can see the value that I place on freedom, safety and prosperity. All of those things work together. I care about freedom,” Bailey said.
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He told students about his desire to be in the Army, and had a leader that eventually served in the administration of President Donald Trump.
He told of his platoon helping evacuate a town near the Syrian border. Citizens there were grateful and brought tea, pastries and candy to share with those who liberated them.
Learning the value of freedoms
“You learn the value of freedoms. Our grandparents protected and handed off to us defending our constitution. With liberty, you have individual responsibilities. The bill of rights is for the individuals,” Bailey said.
“The purpose of the constitution is to protect us from government,” he noted. “The unauthorized fourth branch of government is the alphabet soup of federal agencies. They are using rule-making authority. The agencies are exceeding their rights. They are not elected.”
“The right to free speech is central to our freedoms,” he added.
Fighting for life
After the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization court decision to send abortion issues back to states, Missouri already had “a trigger law,” to continue to eliminate abortions-on-demand, and Bailey walked the legislation to the Secretary of State’s office after Governor Mike Parsons signed it.
He told of holding his first child, who died soon after birth. “You can’t tell me all life is not important. I wouldn’t trade that hour of holding her for anything.”
Bailey has also fought against the effort by Planned Parenthood and Children’s Mercy Hospital against gender transition intervention performed on children. This included cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers and some irreversible surgeries in “shadow clandestine clinics in the state of Missouri.” Two days before his Hannibal speech, his office sued Planned Parenthood for trafficking children across state lines for abortions.
Stay involved, engage
He encouraged the audience members to stay involved and engaged in free speech issues.
“We need a revival in this country, and I hope it will start at the grassroots level. We need warriors to fight for freedom,” he said.
HLGU President Robert Matz said Bailey’s speech was part of the Free Society Speaker Series which previously featured Riley Gaines, who stands up for women-only sports (whom Bailey called “my hero”), and Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was story was written by Dan Steinbeck and originally published by the Pathway.
