MoLeg Update: Medicaid Expansion
Last week, the Legislature finalized the state budget without funding Medicaid expansion. Now the ball is in Gov. Parson’s court. Governor Parson has said publicly that he would respect the will of the voters, and he included funding for Medicaid expansion in his budget.
Join us on Friday at rallies in Columbia, Jefferson County, Joplin, Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield as we call on Gov. Parson to stay true to his word and implement Medicaid expansion!
Expanding Medicaid will save lives by extending health care access to 275,000 Missourians. It’s too important for political games. Medicaid Expansion must move forward, and we will continue to fight to ensure every eligible person can gain coverage by the constitutional deadline of July 1. Together, we can make this happen.
MoLeg Update: Protect Medicaid Patients and Stop Attacks on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Care
On top of the Medicaid Expansion fight, we’re focused on protecting Missouri’s entire Medicaid program. Hundreds of thousands of Missouri patients rely on Medicaid for their health care, but extremist lawmakers are playing political games that could discriminate against patients and jeopardize the entire Medicaid program.
The Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) is a must-pass measure. It funds about one-third of Missouri’s entire Medicaid program. Lawmakers typically renew the FRA each year without much fanfare, but this year, senators hostile to reproductive freedom are trying to weaponize it. Their two-prong attack looks like this:
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Adding language to ban common forms of birth control like IUDs and emergency contraception. The anti-contraception efforts could risk the entire Medicaid program because the federal Medicaid law says Medicaid must fund contraception.
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Adding language to “defund” Planned Parenthood — which really means blocking thousands of Medicaid patients from getting essential care like birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing at Planned Parenthood health centers. The data is clear: When politicians block patients from Planned Parenthood, fewer patients get the care they need.
Missouri’s Medicaid program is too important for the political games going on in Jefferson City right now. The 2021 Legislative Session ends Friday — reach out today and tell your state senator and state representative to support Missouri patients and pass a clean FRA without political attacks on Planned Parenthood patients.
🏳️⚧️ Protect Trans Kids: Stop the Trans Youth Athlete Ban
The fight to stop the Trans Youth Athlete Ban continues during this last week of the 2021 legislative session.
We all know that transgender youth deserve the opportunity to play the sports they love and experience the valuable lessons of being on a team with their peers: teamwork, discipline, success, and failure. Transgender youth in Missouri should be able to be part of a team and play the sport they love as their authentic selves, just like any other young student.
Take action with PROMO, Missouri’s statewide LGBTQ+ advocates, to #ProtectTransKids and tell Missouri legislators what value sports have brought to your life or the lives of people you love. Remind them why sports are for everyone and we play together for the love of the game and love of the team.
📢 #StopSB26: Stand Up for Our Right to Assemble and Protest
Protesting is as American as apple pie. Our parents and grandparents used protests to build the labor movement, to expand suffrage, to fight segregation, and to end child labor. Today we continue the tradition of protest to fight racism, protect workers and save our democracy. But some politicians in Jefferson City want to restrict our freedom to come together to address injustice. Instead of listening to our voices, they want to silence us.
Under Senate Bill 26, taking to the streets for actions like union picket lines, rallies for healthcare, or marches for Black lives could result in severe penalties. Senate Bill 26 is an attempt to silence our voices and criminalize democracy. We could be fined and potentially imprisoned for democratically showing up and speaking out.
PPGP President and CEO Brandon Hill on Anti-Trans Legislation
We know that it can be challenging to find accessible, affordable gender-affirming services. Our transgender and gender-expansive patients already face systemic barriers to care: health centers that are hours away, a lack of education and information about the many types of gender-affirming care available, and other cultural barriers that can sometimes be the hardest to overcome.
With so many hurdles already in place, you might think that state legislators would be doing their best to create more pathways to care for the transgender and gender-expansive community. After all, gender-affirming care is safe and often lifesaving. Shouldn’t elected officials be concerned with making health care easier to access?
In Missouri, that’s not the case. Our elected officials in Jefferson City have been hard at work doing exactly the opposite. Recently, legislation moving through the state legislature has targeted the health and wellbeing of our transgender and gender-expansive community members. This legislation is harmful, and in no way founded in science or medical best practices.”
🎟 This Thursday: Live Q&A with the Director & Cast of Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Join Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri this Thursday evening for a live Q and A about the award-winning film Never Rarely Sometimes Always with writer/director Eliza Hittman and actors Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a coming-of-age story that follows two teenage girls, “Autumn” (Sidney Flanigan) and her cousin “Skylar” (Talia Ryder), as they face legislative barriers, including a parental consent law, and other obstacles as they try to get a safe, legal abortion.
Watch the film on HBO Max (content warning: sexual assault) ahead of the event. If you need financial assistance to access the film, please contact Sharell Collins.
Food and drink will be provided for in-person attendees. In-person attendees are required to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines. In-person registration is limited, so get your tickets now!
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