Contraception

The health care nonprofit also will shutter a location in southwest Missouri. Officials at the organization say the changes better reflect what current patients want.

IUDs have been used for decades, but many patients describe waves of pain when a nurse or doctor inserts them. Providers are now are now considering offering women the option of sedation to make the insertion less unpleasant.

As part of an initiative for reproductive health care access, advocacy groups handed out emergency contraception pills and condoms to fans at the Olivia Rodrigo concert in St. Louis earlier this week.

The City of St. Louis Department of Health is now offering free emergency contraception kits, the latest organization to join the Missouri Family Health Council’s “Free E-C” initiative.

The Missouri Family Health Council is using federal funds to allow Missourians to request kits with free contraceptive pills by visiting their website or going to one of the partnering in-person centers to pick them up.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he has no plans to call a special legislative session to protect access to contraceptives and address ectopic pregnancies. Parson’s comments come days after Democratic leaders called on the governor to hold a special session now that the state has banned nearly all abortions.

The clarification comes after a Kansas City hospital system said it would not provide emergency contraception in the wake of Missouri’s trigger ban on abortions.

The order from County Executive Sam Page extends existing programs at the health department and expands patient counseling and anti-bias and anti-racism training, as well as clinical training around contraception.

The Senate will convene on Wednesday to start the process of approving the tax on healthcare providers that funds a large portion of the state's share of Medicaid.

The Missouri legislature needs to finalize an agreement to accept major Medicaid funding from the federal government, but Republican lawmakers aren’t on the same page. The fight is over birth control.