MoLeg Recap: Senate Merges Three Abortion Bans Into One Bill
Before heading home for a week of spring break, the Senate Committee on Health and Pensions passed a bill combining three separate bans on abortion. The next step is debate in the full Senate.
Senate Bill 279 contains three bans on abortion:
- A complete ban on abortion that outright criminalizes doctors and makes abortion a felony;
- A ban on abortion as soon as a fetal heart tone is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks — before many people even know they are pregnant; and
- A ban on abortion later in pregnancy.
Abortion-obsessed politicians are pushing this bill to restrict access to safe, legal abortion with one goal in mind: sparking a legal challenge that puts Missouri at the front of the race to overturn Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court
Not one of these extreme, medically unnecessary measures does anything to improve the health and safety of Missouri women. At a time when our state’s maternal mortality rate is rising — and Black women are four times likelier to die than their white counterparts — it is glaring that our lawmakers continue to obsess about banning safe, legal abortion.
The decision to end a pregnancy is deeply personal. A pregnant person makes that decision in consultation with their family, their doctor, and their faith — not politicians. Take action today and tell your state senator to stop the bans!
Recap: I Stand With Planned Parenthood Petition Delivery Day
More than a dozen volunteers from Joplin, Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis delivered 9000+ “I Stand with Planned Parenthood” petitions to nearly every single one of Missouri’s 197 lawmakers! The petitions, signed by Missourians across the state, show legislators that people in their districts stand with Planned Parenthood and support access to reproductive health care.
Volunteers had the opportunity to talk to legislators and staff on both sides of the aisle about the vital role Planned Parenthood health centers play in our state's health care safety net by serving many patients with low incomes. This is important, as the Legislature may consider adding a measure to the budget that would discriminate against Planned Parenthood patients who rely on Medicaid. The measure, called "defunding," would block patients from choosing Planned Parenthood health centers for their preventive care, like birth control, cancer screenings and STI testing and treatment. The volunteers ended the day fired up and ready to return for lobby day next week!
Planned Parenthood Lobby Day
Join us this upcoming Tuesday, March 26 for Planned Parenthood Lobby Day in the Capitol! Whether you’re a first-timer or an experienced citizen-lobbyist, there is a role for you! Citizen-lobbyists will visit lawmakers’ offices in small groups to talk about priority legislation, like stopping the abortion bans and protecting Missourians’ access to vital preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers.
Carpools to Jefferson City are available from Columbia, Kansas City, Springfield, and St. Louis. RSVP for the lobby day event nearest you! If there isn't one near you, please sign up for the statewide event.
If you can’t join us this time, mark your calendar for our final lobby day of the year on May 8!
ProtectX: Fighting Back Against the Attack on Title X Family Planning
The Trump-Pence administration just issued a "gag rule" — one of the most dangerous and unconscionable attacks on our health and rights we’ve seen yet. It dismantles the Title X program — founded nearly 50 years ago to provide affordable birth control and reproductive health care for millions of Americans, including many who could not otherwise afford this care on their own.
Part of what makes this fight so tough: most people don’t know what Title X is, even if it benefits them! To #ProtectX, we need to spread the word. Watch this video to learn more about Title X and then share it to spread the word and #ProtectX!
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