Make a Plan to Vote Safely
Missouri voters have already begun casting their ballots — every day until November 3 is Election Day. Nobody should have to risk their health in order to make their voice heard, so it’s important to make a voting plan. We’re sharing information on how to vote safely during this pandemic.
If you need your ballot notarized, Planned Parenthood Advocates organizers may be able to help! Email [email protected] to find out about notary events in Cape Girardeau, Springfield and St. Louis; email [email protected] for events in Columbia and Kansas City.
866-OUR-VOTE is the nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline. You can also visit their website, 866OurVote.org, or tweet them at @866OurVote. Save this information in your phone’s address book — you can contact them with questions or problems every day until Election Day.
Defend RBG’s Memory: Call Senators and Demand “No Nomination Until Inauguration!"
From Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s blog:
How did you feel when you heard of the death of Justice of Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Like you lost a beloved family member? That the country lost the lynchpin of our democracy? We get it. We mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who we loved. And we grieve for our country, which is beset with political forces trying to destroy the very health and rights that Justice Ginsburg fought to protect.
Before she died, Justice Ginsburg said, "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed." But President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell don’t care. Despite an election already underway, they want a new justice installed before Election Day — someone Trump promised would overrule Roe v. Wade and strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA). So, while the Senate has stalled the passage of crucial COVID-19 health and economic relief for more than 18 weeks, McConnell plans to lead the Senate in appointing a third Trump-nominated justice in the next few weeks, according to reports.
There's still hope. Justice Ginsburg left us with the drive to fight for what’s right. And, in her honor, we won’t give up.
When Justice Ginsburg was asked about the Trump-Pence administration’s wrongdoings, she quoted Thomas Jefferson: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” We have our marching orders.
The fate of our rights, our freedoms, our health care, our bodies, our lives, and our country depend on what happens now. It will be a tough fight — but we've faced tough fights before, and we know we can win.
Update: HB 126 Abortion Ban Lawsuit
Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood and ACLU attorneys were back in court fighting to protect Missourians’ reproductive freedom and stop Gov. Parson’s extreme abortion ban.
In August of 2019, a federal district court judge granted a preliminary injunction (PI) preventing the State of Missouri from enforcing House Bill 126, which would ban abortion at eight weeks — before most even know they are pregnant. Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt appealed that ruling, so the parties had oral argument last week at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether the PI should stand or whether the law should take effect immediately.
Governor Parson’s House Bill 126 is the most extreme abortion bill ever passed in Missouri. It imposes several medically unnecessary, politically motivated restrictions on abortion designed to push care out of reach — all on top of our state’s existing obstacle course of abortion restrictions. While abortion bans impact everyone who can become pregnant, they hit people of color and those who are struggling to make ends meet the hardest — the people who already face barriers to accessing good health care.
Governor Parson and Attorney General Schmitt are doubling down on their attempts to cut off access to abortion in the middle of a pandemic, while maternal and reproductive health in Missouri are in crisis. Maternal mortality rates in Missouri are more than 50 percent higher than the national average, and a syphilis outbreak is sweeping the state. Black women in Missouri are three to four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts.
We are fighting to protect abortion for more than 1.1 million Missourians of reproductive age in our state. The attacks are relentless, but our commitment to protecting patients’ rights and freedoms is unwavering.
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