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I met an abortion opponent at the park. He said what the politicians won’t about Amendment 3
One of my 6-year-olds was on the swings when a man approached and handed me a flier from Missouri Right to Life PAC titled “10 Reasons to Oppose the Pro-Abortion Initiative Petition.” The man told me that if Amendment 3, the ballot initiative that would end Missouri’s current abortion ban, passes in November, women will […]
We can raise the alarm about bad laws without telling women they are powerless
What the public thinks the law is can matter more than what a law on the books actually says. So inaccurate or exaggerated reporting on a problematic law can make it even more harmful in practice. Over the years, I have written about a number of viral news stories that inadvertently misrepresent the law, causing […]
Missouri is doing an atrocious job distributing federal funds owed to Missourians in need
SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as “food stamps,” is our foremost tool for keeping low-income families and people with disabilities from going hungry. It’s also a deal for the states. The federal government pays 100% of the cost of the food benefits and 50% of the cost to administer them. SNAP not […]
No, Missouri law does not require a pregnant woman to stay with her husband
The idea that “pregnant women in Missouri can’t get divorced” and therefore can’t leave abusive husbands has gone viral. This is a dangerous misunderstanding of law that is likely to make a pregnant Missourian think there is no use in filing for divorce when she may need to start the process and get a separation […]
Missouri lawmakers chose anti-abortion antics over helping children and families
Missouri’s legislative session closed with a sad and stunning display of how little the loudest lawmakers identifying as “pro-life” care about helping children and families — or governing at all. Even in a session that was historic for its dysfunction and rancor, there were a handful of bipartisan bills that would have made life somewhat […]
Missouri Attorneys General are prolific censors posing as free speech champions
Missouri had an embarrassing trip to the U.S. Supreme Court last month, and things have gone downhill from there. Murthy v. Missouri (formerly Missouri v. Biden), was filed in 2022 by our then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt and his Louisiana counterpart. They sued a slew of federal government agencies alleging that the agencies’ discussions with social […]
Missouri AG Andrew Bailey’s new lawsuit is an endorsement of anti-abortion violence
The secretly filmed video of a young woman who works at a Missouri Planned Parenthood clinic ends with an image of crosshairs and a call to “Be Brave. Do Something.” Project Veritas is a far-right organization that surreptitiously films employees of organizations that it opposes, deceptively edits the videos, and then uses them to direct […]
Abortion initiative wouldn’t just end the cruelty of Missouri ban. It would be a new world
“We are witnessing a lot of suffering on the hotline,” Linda told me. “People are scared out of their minds.” Dr. Linda Prine is the co-founder of the Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline. When someone orders pills off the internet because their state has criminalized abortion care or they face other barriers, they can call if […]
We know where the Missouri AG’s inflammatory anti-trans rhetoric could lead
In 2015, Robert Dear shot three people to death and injured nine others at a Colorado Planned Parenthood. When he was arrested after a five hour stand-off he told police: “no more baby parts.” The gunman was repeating a lie that presidential candidates and politicians had taken mainstream after an anti-abortion group released doctored videos […]
Missouri AG doesn’t want the public to know he’s pushing wild legal theories in abortion cases
In a press release and tweets announcing his amicus brief in a Texas abortion case, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey describes a relatively limited objection to a recent FDA policy change, which allows for medication abortion to be dispensed at pharmacies. After summarizing the brief’s claims that medication abortion is unsafe, the press release states: […]