Chelsea Voboril, Bishop James Johnson Jr. and Deborah Sheppard stand outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City on Monday to protest a ruling that allowed abortions to begin again in Missouri. Two days prior, the first surgical abortion in the state since Roe v. Wade was overturned was performed inside the clinic (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)
Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.
Important Takeaways:
- Fifty years of anti-abortion laws in Missouri have been struck down as unconstitutional over the last two months, culminating Friday with a Jackson County judge blocking clinic licensing requirements.
- Three days later, Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists gathered outside Planned Parenthood locations across the state to say they have no intention of retreating.
- “I’m here to tell you the Missouri supermajority of Republicans will not stand for this,” said state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican and one of the architects of the legislation that made Missouri the first state to outlaw abortion in June 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
- “There will be another option to vote,” she predicted Monday, “so that people understand this is not going to continue in the state of Missouri.”
- A Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City on Saturday performed the first elective abortion since voters overturned Missouri’s abortion ban by passing Amendment 3 in November.
- Missouri Republicans have filed three dozen bills seeking to either repeal or rein in Amendment 3. So far, the House has prioritized a proposed constitutional amendment that would reinstate an abortion ban but create exceptions for survivors of rape and incest, as long as they report the crime to police.
- Senate Democrats have threatened to filibuster any effort to overturn the voter-approved amendment legalizing abortion.
- “This is the real agenda of Planned Parenthood, to put the destruction of human life over the safety and well-being of women,” Brian Westbrook, executive director of Coalition Life, told reporters as about half a dozen anti-abortion protesters stood behind him. “They are not fighting for women. They are fighting to remove every possible check on their harmful, deadly business.”
- Westbrook said Monday kicked off a 6-day “intense prayer and fasting vigil” outside the St. Louis clinic. Coalition Life also restarted its sidewalk counseling efforts, partnering with Women’s Care Connect, a pregnancy resource center in Maryland Heights that he said also provides “abortion pill reversal.”
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