JEFFERSON CITY — A plan that would protect Bayer from cancer lawsuits connected to its Roundup herbicide drew bipartisan opposition Wednesday in the Missouri House.
House lawmakers approved the plan on a voice vote, but not before a parade of Democrats — and some Republicans — spoke out against it.
The vote came a day after The Associated Press reported that Bayer, which finalized its purchase of Creve Coeur-based Monsanto in 2018, had been lobbying lawmakers in three states for legal protection.
Nearly identical bills introduced in Iowa, Missouri and Idaho this year — with wording supplied by Bayer — would protect pesticide companies from claims they failed to warn that their product causes cancer, if their labels otherwise complied with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations.
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“We’re just trying to put some guardrails up here on the liability of it,†said Rep. Greg Sharpe, R-Ewing, who called Roundup a “tremendous product.â€
But other Republicans were not convinced.
Rep. Adam Schnelting, R-St. Charles, said he didn’t want to eliminate products some farmers use.
“But I do wish that we protect access to the courts and the Seventh Amendment for our farmers,†said Schnelting, referring to the amendment to the U.S. Constitution that states in part that “the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.â€
Democrats, too, criticized the measure.
“If I am wronged, I should be able to stand up and be made whole again,†said Rep. Doug Clemens, D-St. Ann.
The legislation needs one more vote in the House before advancing to the Senate for further consideration. The legislative session ends May 17.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The legislation is .