Letter in Solidarity With Missouri, October 2019

Days after Governor Mike Parson signed one of the most restrictive bans on abortion in the country, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services weaponized what it claims to be important public health processes that protect its citizens. Parson and the health department recklessly turned health center inspections into a tool to ban abortion and deny Planned Parenthood’s abortion license, threatening the last remaining health center in the state licensed to provide abortion services. Soon, the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission will determine whether Missouri becomes first state in the nation without a single health center able to provide abortion care, impacting more than a million Missourians of reproductive age.  

During the week of October 28, Missouri’s Administrative Hearing Commission will hear this case which will inform the decision on whether Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, Missouri’s last remaining abortion provider, can keep its abortion license. The state will continue to make politically motivated, medically false allegations and use misinformation to stoke fear. The Parson administration has one goal: to end abortion access in Missouri. 

An end to abortion access in Missouri would be devastating, and it is dangerous. Roe v. Wade guarantees the right to safe, legal abortion, but this right is meaningless without access. Already people of color and those who are struggling to make ends meet face barriers to accessing good health care. Because of these restrictions and the discriminatory policies in our country, far too many people — especially those who already face racism, homophobia, and transphobia — have few options. Banning abortion will disproportionately harm the same communities. We will not accept this future. Missourians and people across this country deserve better.