Gov. Matt Blunt should resist the pressure to call a special Missouri legislative session. He’s being pushed by those who want to further restrict abortion, but have failed to make their case in more than four months of the regular session that just ended.

The cost to taxpayers of a special session can’t be justified.

Proponents of the bill to prohibit “coerced” abortions did not offer reliable data that coercion is a significant problem in Missouri. State law already requires a woman to sign a consent form stating that her decision is voluntary before an abortion can be performed.

The proposed legislation could have unfairly subjected physicians to criminal charges, leaving them reluctant to perform abortions. Some domestic violence prevention groups said the bill could have kept rape victims from seeking abortions.

State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Missouri Right to Life have called for the special session.

Steelman, a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, wants the legislature to consider further a ban on abortions on the basis of deformity or potential disability and gender.

A decision on whether to have an abortion based on fetal deformity or potential disability is best left to the pregnant woman and her family.

In 2005 Blunt called a special legislative session largely to force consideration of an anti-abortion proposal that had not passed in the regular session. It cost taxpayers more than $90,000 and lasted over a week.

This week a Blunt spokesman said the governor would wait until he had reviewed all bills before considering a special session.

Missouri is among the states with the most restrictions on a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

If additional hurdles to abortion are to be considered, they should face scrutiny in a regular legislative session when there is reasonable time for hearings, testimony and debate, without extra cost to taxpayers.