Abortion

Under the proposed legislation, no public funds would be given to any clinic that provides abortions or its affiliate. Similar legislation has stalled in the Senate.

Constitutional law experts and anti-abortion advocates agree the amendment could upend decades of laws aimed at limiting access, but not without years of legal challenges.

The proposed ballot item would have allowed for abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

As amendments aimed at legalizing abortion in cases of rape or incest were voted down, one Republican state senator defended the decision saying, ‘God does not make mistakes.’

Backers of the ballot item legalizing abortion up to fetal viability held a number of signature gathering events on Tuesday.

Abortion providers in the Metro East say that since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, some anti-abortion protesters have tried to intimidate and harass people in an attempt to dissuade them from having abortions. Providers at a roundtable in Springfield on Tuesday said they want Illinois lawmakers to consider more protections for patients and clinics.

Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood for St. Louis and Southwest Missouri, has announced she will be stepping down from her position at the end of the month. Rodriguez did not give a reason for her departure.

Abortion rights advocates said cutting funding to Planned Parenthood would be a ‘devastating blow’ to Missouri's public health safety net.

The campaign has the support of the major abortion advocacy groups in Missouri, but it’s also drawn criticism from activists over its fetal viability standard.

If supporters gather enough signatures by May, voters could decide the fate of Missouri’s abortion ban in either August or November.