{"id":7965,"date":"2025-12-05T10:31:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T16:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/05\/abortion-rights-returned-to-missouri-one-year-ago-access-never-did-2\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T10:31:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T16:31:39","slug":"abortion-rights-returned-to-missouri-one-year-ago-access-never-did-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/05\/abortion-rights-returned-to-missouri-one-year-ago-access-never-did-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion rights returned to Missouri one year ago. Access never did"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

An appointment room stands empty at the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis’ Central West End (Anna Spoerre\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n

One year ago, abortion became legal in Missouri.<\/a> But since then, only 80 elective abortions have been performed in the state. Thousands of Missourians had to seek care out of state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the reality until a trial plays out next year to determine which of Missouri\u2019s anti-abortion laws violate a voter-approved reproductive health care constitutional amendment passed last year \u2014 and which can remain in place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to hear after we\u2019ve had the vote,\u201d said <\/span>Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. <\/span>\u201cEven knowing that the case really is moving at a wild speed and that we are pushing for trial as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Looming on the horizon is another statewide vote on abortion. Republican lawmakers placed a new constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot that would ban nearly all abortions in the state, with limited exceptions for survivors and for medical emergencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abortion may be legal again in Missouri, but for most patients, it\u2019s not yet within reach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Decades of restrictions have gutted the state\u2019s provider network. Now, Planned Parenthood is the only option. And medication abortion \u2014 the method most people previously relied on \u2014 is still unavailable as the courts sort through which old laws conflict with the new constitutional amendment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some abortion-right advocates say this was all inevitable, arguing the amendment approved by voters last year didn\u2019t go far enough. Others push back, saying access can\u2019t be restored overnight even under the best circumstances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes time to rebuild infrastructure that was decimated over decades,\u201d said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Signs lean against the wall at the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis\u2019 Central West End (Anna Spoerre\/Missouri Independent).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It leaves activists on both sides of the abortion debate asking how best to move forward when so much is in flux.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want an abortion, you want to make that call now. You don\u2019t want to have to wait and see what the state might do to interrupt your care,\u201d Wales said. \u201cAnd Missourians are thinking about that. When they call us, they are asking, \u2018Is care really going to be available and what might happen,\u2019 which is almost impossible for us to say.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Between January and October, there were 80 in-clinic abortion procedures in Missouri across Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis, according to data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.<\/span><\/p>\n

An additional <\/span>79 abortions were performed in Missouri hospitals. All were marked as being medical emergencies when reported to the health department.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who helped pass Missouri\u2019s trigger law that banned abortion in 2022, questioned whether the national donors who bankrolled the passage of the abortion-rights amendment last year will open up their checkbooks again to fight the proposed ban next year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, anti-abortion groups were outspent six to one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey spent $30 million for 80 abortions. Are they going to do that again? I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Coleman, an Arnold Republican. \u201cWe\u2019re a bad place to invest if you are part of the national pro-abortion movement because we\u2019re not going to stop and we\u2019re going to continue and we\u2019re more unified than we used to be.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rebuilding infrastructure<\/h4>\n

\t<\/p>\n

To say Julie Burkhart knows something about running an abortion clinic in a hostile environment is an understatement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Burkhart worked for Dr. George Tiller\u2019s abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas, when an anti-abortion activist fatally shot Tiller in 2009. More than a decade later, Burkhardt opened an abortion clinic in Wyoming in spite of the state\u2019s abortion ban.<\/span><\/p>\n

She is also co-owner of Hope Clinic, a private abortion provider in Granite City, Illinois, located a 15 minute drive northeast of downtown St. Louis. Between 2019 and 2022, the numbers of Missourians making the short trek to her clinic more than tripled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The year Tiller was murdered, 6,881 abortions were performed in Missouri, according to state health department data. By 2021, there were only 151.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, it\u2019s estimated 7,780 Missourians traveled to Illinois and 3,960 traveled to Kansas to access abortion, according to<\/span> the Guttmacher Institute,<\/span><\/a> a reproductive rights research group.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Missouri, in what used to be a network of private and non-profit abortion clinics, Planned Parenthood now stands alone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2029When we have clinics closing because of government hostility, it\u2019s not an abstract function. It\u2019s not theoretical,\u201d Burkhart<\/span>\u00a0said. \u201cWhat that does is that puts more pressure on real people who are just trying to live their lives, make the best decisions about their lives, the lives of children that they might already have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which is based in St. Louis and operates clinics in the metro area and in the Ozarks,<\/span> announced the closure of three locations<\/span><\/a> in North St. Louis County, south St. Louis city and Joplin in order to expand telehealth services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
New signage reflects the rebranding of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers at its clinic in St. Louis\u2019 Central West End (Anna Spoerre\/Missouri Independent).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year, at least <\/span>45 Planned Parenthood clinics around the country have shuttered<\/span><\/a>, many due to the ban on abortion providers receiving Medicaid reimbursements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have that infrastructure, then it\u2019s just chaotic,\u201d Burkhart said. \u201cPeople are left not knowing if something\u2019s available or not, or to what limit or not, and it\u2019s just incredibly stressful and chaotic for patients.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Burkhart has no plans to open an abortion clinic in Missouri, though she sees a \u201cdesperate need\u201d for more providers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But if a private provider were interested in moving into Missouri, she said they would likely face challenges like finding a financial institution willing to finance them. And she\u2019d advise waiting until after the parameters of the abortion rights amendment are fully litigated and the November vote on the abortion ban.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m painting a very grim picture,\u201d she said. \u201cStart-ups can be done, but I think it\u2019s just a matter of good strategy, time and patience to navigate all those hurdles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Margot Riphagen, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, said there is early talk of restarting abortion procedures at the other clinics she oversees (including in Rolla, Springfield, St. Peters and western St. Louis County) after the January trial offers some legal clarity.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis\u2019 Central West End, abortions accounted for less than 1% of all services provided in the 2025 fiscal year ending in June. The majority of appointments were for STI screenings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The clinic did not provide the total number of abortions it performed in the past year, but said 20% of the abortion patients came from out of state. The clinic is currently offering abortion appointments once a week for patients up to 18 weeks gestation, said spokesperson Krissy Durant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wales, with Planned Parenthood Great Plains, hopes for a day when abortion doesn\u2019t rest solely on Planned Parenthood\u2019s shoulders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want as a Missourian and as someone who wants people to have access to their own fundamental rights is for there to be providers in every single community who have patients in the waiting room who are there to get obstetrical care or regular checkups or wellness visits or abortion care,\u201d she said, \u201c \u2026 That is what real access to abortion looks like. The challenge we have, though, is getting to that point of normalizing care and having providers feel safe enough to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Emily Wales, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains (right) takes a shift as a clinic escort with Vicki Casey director of centralized operations, on March 3 outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia (Anna Spoerre\/Missouri Independent).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robin Frisella, community engagement director for Missouri Abortion Fund, said conversations about rebuilding access often neglect strategies to fund abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you fund abortion, you are funding the immediate needs of abortion seekers right now,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to wait for elections. You don\u2019t have to wait for amendments to pass to make a real difference in abortion access.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri law prevents private insurance companies from covering any abortion costs. Federal law bans the use of federal funds, such as Medicaid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The average cost of an abortion in the first trimester is about $600, Frisella said. A<\/span>bortions later in pregnancy can cost upwards of $10,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

So far in 2025, the fund has paid for out-of-state abortions for more than 1,570 Missourians. <\/span>But the past few years have seen a steady decline in donations, Frisella said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri Abortion Fund is also part of What\u2019s Next, a group made up of reproductive justice activists and organizers who previously called for a constitutional amendment to appear on the Missouri ballot with no restrictions on abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen amendment three is considered a win, it gives the false impression that this issue has been solved in the state,\u201d <\/span>Frisella said. <\/span>\u201cWhat a win looks like for abortion access is not limited appointment availability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Republican response<\/h4>\n

\t<\/p>\n

In October, former Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson stood before a room of Missouri Baptists and warned they may be facing their \u201clast chance\u201d to remove abortion rights from the Missouri constitution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t get it done this time,\u201d Parson cautioned, \u201cyou\u2019ll be fighting this issue for a long, long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Brian Seitz was in the crowd.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSociety in general is changing,\u201d Seitz said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that the ideas that some of us have, as conservatives and\/or Christians, are really holding sway as much as they did 10, 20, 30 years ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Missouri voter says no to this one, can we run the same thing again?\u201d Seitz said. \u201c\u2029I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While nothing is stopping the legislature from trying again to ban abortion if next year\u2019s vote fails, Seitz said he thinks a repeat attempt is unlikely. Instead, he said, the fight would take a different form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He thinks the best path forward is legislation that would establish fetal personhood. This means that from the moment of conception, an embryo, and then fetus, would have full rights as an individual. This could \u201cnegate\u201d the abortion rights amendment, he said, because abortion could then legally become classified as murder.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Rep. Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican, speaks during House debate on Feb. 11 (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coleman, the Arnold Republican senator, said if the abortion ban fails at the ballot next year, she will immediately go back to the drawing board to find a new path to restrict the procedure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2029This fight isn\u2019t going to go away. I will never stop working on this, and I am one of hundreds of thousands of Missourians who will never stop fighting to protect the unborn,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cThe idea that there is one end all be all, it\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislation pre-filed by state Sen. Mike Moon, a Republican from Ash Grove, and state Rep. Burt Whaley, a Republican from Clever, seeks to charge anyone who has or performs an abortion with murder.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of protecting a culture that allows the shedding of innocent blood, we must protect preborn babies from abortion and the souls of the mothers who commit them by deterring abortions in the first place,\u201d Whaley said in a statement. \u201cThis legislation will help us accomplish this simple directive from God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Changing culture\u2019<\/h4>\n

\t<\/p>\n

Sam Lee, an anti-abortion lobbyist who has spent decades roaming the Missouri Capitol, has been collecting books by progressive activists on topics like environmentalism and violence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re really instructive to me in terms of what could be done,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to have a pro-life culture or a culture that respects life, then maybe we need to teach kids that, as opposed to just dealing with guns on one side or the other. What about just relationships? It\u2019s an idea; we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee hopes these texts may give him some insight into how to motivate a younger population to his movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m talking about changing culture. Gosh, we lost by just 1.6%; such a close vote,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWhat could we have done 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, where we could have won that? It\u2019s a legitimate question, and it\u2019s a legitimate criticism of the pro life movement if we could have dealt with it, and we didn\u2019t, when we were focused almost exclusively on trying to overturn Roe versus Wade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The question of messaging is top of mind for those on both sides of the abortion movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This fall, volunteers with Abortion Action Missouri started hosting house parties to invite their friends and neighbors to talk about and learn about abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwarz, with Abortion Action Missouri, said her organization made a conscious effort to shift toward normalizing the phrase \u201cpro abortion\u201d a few years ago, noting that anti-abortion groups were far more likely at the time to say the word \u201cabortion\u201d out loud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Students hold up anti-abortion signs at the Midwest March for Life on May 1, 2024, at the Missouri State Capitol (Anna Spoerre\/Missouri Independent).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHow silly that we have ceded that ground to them in favor of something like choice, or women\u2019s healthcare or reproductive healthcare,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwarz said she sees the destigmatization \u2014 something crucial to winning over more support as she knocks on more doors in parts of the state that are historically more conservative and Christian.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is freeing. People are itching to talk about this experience, and stigma has kept them silent,\u201d Schwarz said. \u201cBeing approached at their door or invited to a meeting, it helps people heal from the shame that they experienced themselves, and they see that they didn\u2019t need to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwarz said putting abortion on the ballot and winning is not the end all be all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe only path towards a Missouri where we\u2019re not fighting the same attack year after year after year is one where we change the composition of the legislature,\u201d she said. \u201c \u2026 \u201cIt was never sufficient for us to look at a 10 plus year plan to flip the state legislature and think we could just live under a ban during that time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamie Morris, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, said the slim margins of the November 2024 vote re-energized the anti-abortion voters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This time around, he\u2019s hopeful the campaign in favor of the abortion ban will be better-funded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2029It\u2019s easy to go back and sort of Monday morning quarterback, but we lost by 1.6%,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t even need another $30 million. You just need to raise a little bit more and target in certain areas a little bit sooner than I think our side did last time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also hopes part of the messaging, including what\u2019s preached to those in pews, focuses on laws that help women choose to continue a pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIs it a financial issue? Is it the social safety net that we need to bolster? \u2029Is it childcare issues?\u201d he said. \u201cPick that public policy topic, but it\u2019s all of these things that help women decide to have the child. How can we impact that and really focus on the women who feel like they have no other choice?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, Missourians sit in the uneasy space between a constitutional right and the reality on the ground \u2014 a state where voters restored abortion access, but where it remains largely out of reach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(Lawmakers) can sow chaos on their end,\u201d Wales said. \u201cWe\u2019re just going to keep organizing and coordinating and moving with one vision for Missourians to be healthier and safer and free.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An appointment room stands empty at the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis’ Central West End (Anna Spoerre\/Missouri Independent). One year ago, abortion became legal in Missouri. But since then, only 80 elective abortions have been performed in the state. Thousands of Missourians had to seek care out of state.\u00a0 This is the reality until a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAbortion rights returned to Missouri one year ago. 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