RELEASE: Extreme politicians rabid to keep abortion rights from Missourians face consequences from voters
With abortion top of mind, many voters look down ballot in effort to protect health care freedom and bodily autonomy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024
Contact: liz@progressmo.org
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – This fall, Missourians are expected to have an opportunity to cast a historic vote enshrining abortion access in the state. Although polling suggests the measure will pass, extreme politicians – including many who won primary races Tuesday night – are doubling down on their anti-abortion rhetoric.
State Senate candidate Adam Schnelting of St. Charles, who proudly boasts on social media that he “authored the law that ended abortion in Missouri,” is one of several politicians who told voters to “decline to sign” the initiative petition.
In one of a series of nearly identical videos featuring extreme politicians, Schnelting said that the driver pushing the health care initiative is financial profit, failing to acknowledge the long-understood correlation between poverty and limiting abortion access.
Likewise, David Gregory of Chesterfield – who served in the House of Representatives alongside Schnelting and voted for the 2019 trigger ban and is also running for State Senate – boasts that he is “pro-life, pro-gun and pro-Christian.” He even has a “pro-life plan for Missourians” where families pay no income taxes if they have three children.
Missourians, desperate to restore bodily autonomy to women, are taking notice.
Eva Meyer from Jefferson City said how a candidate feels about abortion will be a determining factor in who gets her vote.
“Some politicians have shown us they only care about their own agenda and taking the most extreme positions possible in an attempt to win votes. I am voting to turn back Missouri’s cruel abortion law, and I’ll also be voting for candidates who support this right and will not interfere with the will of voters.”
Dr. Kathy LeMon, a 78-year-old clinical psychologist from Springfield, said the importance of voting for legislators who support abortion access cannot be underscored enough.
“This is the most important vote I will cast in my lifetime. It is not just about abortion. It is about the rights of individuals to make their own decisions. I will be voting for legislators who support the will of the people, and legislators who support abortion.”
This fall, Missourians face a choice: restore abortion access or let politicians keep calling the shots. Polling shows most voters want abortion back, but some fear it won’t be that simple.
They remember 2020. Voters overwhelmingly chose to expand Medicaid, giving health care to thousands. But politicians have spent years trying to dismantle it, denying people the care they were promised. Will the same thing happen with abortion?
“Republicans have been uncomfortable with the initiative process for a while, given that it has worked against their preferences,” Peverill Squire, University of Missouri political scientist, recently said. “The voters have been willing to overturn them on several major issues.”
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