Gov. Greitens’ call for an abortion-focused special session is a call for an attack on women in Missouri.
We should respect that a woman needs to make her own important life decisions – and the U.S. Supreme Court agrees.
Politicians in Missouri continue to disregard the constitution and the law by trying to legislate a woman’s personal decision about her own life.
Politicians need to focus on policies that truly benefit Missourians – not policies that make it harder for women to access healthcare. Laws that continue to limit women’s access to abortion care with medically unnecessary regulations only hurt women. It’s also illegal.
In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that unnecessary regulations, such as admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements for abortion providers, only fulfill one agenda — to keep women from accessing abortions.
Missourians don’t want anti-abortion politics playing with their lives. This year, thousands of women marched in streets across the state to fight for their rights and protest laws that limit their freedom. This attack on Missouri’s women is in direct conflict with the will of the people.
When politics restricts access to abortion, the harm falls hardest on low-income women, women of color, and young women – the people who are the most vulnerable.
The constitutional right to choose safe, legal abortion cannot exist merely as an ideal established nearly 44 years ago in Roe v. Wade. It must continue to be an accessible service to any person, no matter their zip code or state.