Reproductive Justice

Host a House Party to Collect Signatures for the Reproductive Rights Initiative Petition

March 1, 2024

Help End the Abortion Ban in MO!

The coalition working to get the reproductive rights constitutional amendment on the ballot must collect 172,000 valid signatures by May 5, 2024. Your help is needed to ensure Missourians get to vote on ending our cruel abortion ban. Help us do our part!

Support the Effort by Hosting a House Party!

Do you want to help end Missouri’s abortion ban? Can you commit to hosting a house party and inviting your friends and family to sign the initiative petition? Women’s Voices will connect you with a trained volunteer to provide petitions and collect signatures at your home. All you need to do is host and provide refreshments.

Provide your information here and we’ll contact you to arrange a signing event!

Update on Fight for Reproductive Freedom in Missouri

February 1, 2024

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom (MCF), a coalition of abortion rights advocates in Missouri, has formally launched a campaign to pass a constitutional amendment restoring a right to abortion in the state. The coalition will now move forward to begin collecting signatures for Missouri’s Constitutional Amendment to Article I, Relating to Reproductive Health Care, version 10 2024-086 (Version 086). 

In accordance with the previously approved position paper on reproductive justice, the Women’s Voices Board of Directors formally endorsed the Version 086 amendment at the January 25 board meeting.

Updates on signature collection efforts will be shared as they become available! Visit our website for more information and updates.

Show Your Support for Abortion Rights in Missouri

November 14, 2023

On Thursday, November 9, we heard from Brian Silva, vice president of outreach and engagement for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State about they case they filed with the National Women’s Law Center seeking to strike down Missouri’s abortion ban as a clear violation of the church-state separation provided in Missouri’s Constitution.

The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, November 16 at 11 a.m. in St. Louis. This hearing will be the state’s second attempt to dismiss the case. While supporters are asked NOT to engage in any public activity (like a rally) at this stage of the case, here’s how you can show support and be involved:

  • Plaintiffs and partners can attend the hearing in St. Louis (1-2 hours). Faith leaders are asked to be in clerical garb to remain the visual reminder in the court of the strong support abortion rights has in faith communities. Special thanks to Abortion Access MO who will organize this on the ground!
  • Can’t attend? Join a short debrief via Zoom on Friday, November 17 at 11:45 a.m.

Please RSVP for either opportunity here.

Women’s Voices Supports Challenge to Missouri’s Abortion Bans

February 1, 2023

On January 19, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the National Women’s Law Center filed a lawsuit challenging Missouri’s abortion bans. These two organizations are leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice issues. Their suit claims that abortion bans violate the separation of church and state and are thus unconstitutional. Plaintiffs include thirteen clergy members from six different denominations. Women’s Voices is a supporter of the AU’s Missouri Access to Abortion Project and will be sharing ongoing information about the lawsuit and related efforts to assure abortion is legal and safe for our fellow Missourians.

STL Decision Day Action for Abortion

Friday, June 24, 2022 6-8 p.m.
Planned Parenthood of the Saint Louis Region
4251 Forest Park Ave
Saint Louis, MO 63108

Join Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region Southwest Missouri and co-sponsors Missouri Abortion Fund, National Council of Jewish Women – St. Louis, Pro-Choice Missouri, Missouri Health Care for All, Action St. Louis, Arch City Defenders, Access MO, Hope Clinic for Women, PROMO, Right By You, ACLU of Missouri, Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice, Missouri Workers Center to protest the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Read more and register here.

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Women’s Voices Statement on SCOTUS Reversal of Roe v. Wade

June 24, 2022

Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice joins our many community partners in strongly condemning today’s Supreme Court decision overturning the fundamental right to abortion that has been in place for nearly half a century. Abortion is essential healthcare that must be accessible to and safe and legal for every American. Abortion is also a deeply personal and complex decision that should only be made by each individual in the context of their own life situation.

At WVR, we trust every person to make this decision for themselves. Please join us and the 80% of Americans who believe abortion should be legal in opposing this decision. Please immediately contact your representatives, both on the state and national levels, and let them know you expect them to work to protect the right to safe and legal abortion for every American citizen by codifying abortion protections into law.

St. Louis Abortion Rights Rally

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Women’s Voices members joined St. Louis abortion advocates and community partners for a family-friendly day of action to demand #BansOffOurBodies and abortion access for all!

On Monday, May 2nd, a Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was released to the public and confirmed the fears of abortion advocates across the country.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that they are prepared to overturn the 50-year precedent that recognized a person’s right to determine if they will give birth. If Roe is overturned, abortion will immediately be criminalized in Missouri.

Thanks to the ACLU of Missouri for livestreaming the speakers at Saturday’s STL Abortion Rights Rally.

Videos here:
https://fb.watch/d4Z2TLqc_z/
https://fb.watch/d4Z2hA4gcN/
https://fb.watch/d4Z0p5ZWMC/

See more photos from the rally on the Women’s Voices Facebook page here.

Women’s Voices Statement on SCOTUS Draft Opinion on Abortion Rights

May 4, 2022

Monday’s leaked Supreme Court draft opinion, which warns of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, is a war on women. And it is a call to action for us to fight back. Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice is a strong advocate for universal access to high quality healthcare. Abortion care is healthcare. The consequences of the Supreme Court opinion, if it becomes final, will be felt disproportionately by low income women and families in Missouri. If Missouri women are unable to travel to more enlightened states for quality reproductive care they will receive unsafe care or no care at all. Pro-choice must be a litmus test for candidates for office at all levels of government. More than ever, Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice will work with our allies and partners to protect women’s control of their bodies and their health.

Read our Reproductive Justice Position Paper here.

Women’s March to Stop the Abortion Ban 

Women’s Voices is proud to be a member of the #StoptheBans Coalition. Join us at the Rally to #StoptheBans
Sat., Oct. 2, 10 a.m.-noon
Luther Ely Smith Square, 20 N. Fourth Street, 63102
Read more here.

Women’s Voices Responds to Texas Abortion Care Ban

September 5, 2021

Women’s Voices denounces the new anti-abortion care law just passed in Texas that effectively makes abortion care illegal in Texas and is likely to spill out across much of the rest of the country in a short time. The impact of this heinous abortion care ban cannot be overstated. It will overwhelmingly harm Black and Latinx people, people with low incomes, and people in rural areas, who already face immense barriers to health care access.  We at Women’s Voices urge you to join volunteers and activists around the country in the fight for reproductive freedom.  Urge Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify Roe V. Wade into law. Read the full statement here.

US Supreme Court Upholds Administration Rule Allowing Exemptions for Providing Birth Control

July 8, 2020

The opinion upheld a Trump administration rule that significantly cut back on the Affordable Care Act requirement that insurers provide free birth control coverage as part of almost all health care plans.

“We hold that the [Trump administration] had the authority to provide exemptions from the regulatory contraceptive requirements for employers with religious and conscientious objections,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority.

Read more here

Missouri Must Pay Planned Parenthood For Treating Medicaid Patients

June 30, 2020

The Missouri Department of Social Services must pay Planned Parenthood for providing care for Medicaid patients, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday….The Missouri Department of Social Services must pay Planned Parenthood for providing care for Medicaid patients, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Read more here

 

US Supreme Court Strikes Down Restrictive Louisiana Abortion Rule

June 29, 2020

The Supreme Court stuck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era….Chief Justice John Roberts joined with his four more liberal colleagues in ruling that the law requiring doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals violates the abortion right the court first announced in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

Read more here

 

State Loses Bid to Shut Down Planned Parenthood – St. Louis

May 20, 2020

In a 97-page decision, Administrative Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi said Planned Parenthood demonstrated that it meets the requirements for renewal of its abortion facility license in St. Louis.

“Planned Parenthood has demonstrated that it provides safe and legal abortion care. In over 4,000 abortions provided since 2018, the department has only identified two causes to deny its license,” Dandamudi wrote.

Read more here

 

Missouri Abortion-Rights Groups Drop Referendum, File Lawsuit To Prevent Future Delays

August 22, 2019

Opponents of Missouri’s eight-week abortion ban have dropped their efforts to gather the needed 100,000 signatures to place a referendum on the November 2020 ballot. They claim Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft did not give them enough time to do so by Wednesday, when the law will take effect.

The abortion-rights coalition No Bans On Choice and the ACLU of Missouri have instead turned their attention to making sure state officials cannot block future referendums. On Thursday, they filed a lawsuit against Ashcroft, a Republican, alleging that the laws that allowed him to delay releasing the referendum’s language violate the state’s constitution.

read full article here

 

Read the Women’s Voices statement on the passage of HB 126, “fetal heartbeat” bill.

 

$20 million to improve access to contraceptives for low-income women in Missouri

April 26, 2019

“The state’s largest philanthropic health foundation is funding a $20 million initiative over the next six years to improve access to contraceptive services at clinics that serve the poor and uninsured…The initiative will cover the cost of birth control options — including more effective and expensive long-acting options like intrauterine devices and hormonal implants — for uninsured patients.”

Michelle Trupiano, executive director of the Missouri Family Health Council says, “What we are trying to do is level the playing field when it comes to contraception.”

Read full article here

Judges Block Effort to Permit More Companies to Deny Coverage for Contraception

January 13, 2019

“A federal judge in Pennsylvania has blocked the Trump administration from implementing a rule allowing employers to decline to offer contraceptive coverage on moral or religious grounds….In her ruling, Judge Beetlestone said states would be harmed by the Trump administration’s policy because women who lost contraceptive coverage would seek state-funded services.” Read more here