St. Louis rally calls for end to abortion bans, as Missouri eyes law mirroring Texas ban
Abortion-rights supporters gathered on the steps of downtown St. Louis’ Old Courthouse at a “Stop the Ban” rally Thursday, following the passage of a Texas law that tightly restricts access to abortions and the likelihood Missouri could mirror those restrictions.
The rally drew more than 150 people, the majority of which held abortion-rights signs, while a handful of anti-abortion protestors held signs nearby.
The Texas law and the possibility of a similar law’s passage in Missouri has many worried the two health care centers that provide abortions in the metro-east will be strained under demands as people stream in from across the border and in some cases, fly to Illinois for access to abortions.
Planned Parenthood St. Louis President of Reproductive Health Yamelsie Rodriguez, who spoke at the rally, said patients from Texas and other states are already looking toward the metro-east health care centers that provide abortions, the Fairview Heights Planned Parenthood and Granite City’s Hope Clinic.
She said women from Texas have been flying from their home states to Illinois to gain access to abortions since the law was originally passed and she foresees more will follow from other states as they begin to adopt similar laws.
“This is not just a Texas problem, this is everyone’s problem,” Rodriguez said. “Already in Missouri Republicans have announced plans to introduce a Texas-style ban which would put a bounty on all of us who want access to abortions that we need.”
Rodriguez said Planned Parenthood is increasing its capacity to handle an influx of new patients and questions from patients seeking services. She said financial assistance, transportation and other services are being increased to “remove barriers” between patients and abortions.
Supreme Court denied appeal of law
The Texas law, which was originally passed in May, bans abortions in that state after roughly six weeks, a rule many critics of the law say makes abortions impossible as many people don’t know they’re pregnant until six weeks into a pregnancy. The U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal to block enforcement of the law 5-4 last week.
A similar law that would ban abortions after eight weeks in Missouri is set to be heard in a court of appeals in late September, and a Missouri Republican announced plans to introduce a version of the Texas law in the near future.
Rodriguez and many others, including St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who also spoke at the rally, say the Texas law renders Roe v. Wade meaningless in Texas. The Roe v. Wade was a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that guaranteed aborition rights.
Voicing her opposition of the Texas law and the possibility of a new restrictive law in Missouri, Bush called on the U.S. Senate to codify Roe V. Wade and end the filibuster, which she said is holding back laws that would protect reproductive and many other civil rights.
“It’s not a matter of if these bans will spread across the country, it’s a matter of when,” Bush said. “And in Missouri, it’s happening right now.”
“It sucks that we’re out here again,” Bush added. “But we’re going to continue to fight.”
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Missouri legislator wants to mirror Texas law
The Kansas City Star reported this week Missouri State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who chairs the state House and Families Committee, promised to introduce legislation to mirror Texas’ law recently.
“We are absolutely going to do everything we have in power to try to eliminate abortion in Missouri,” Coleman said. “And not just eliminate it, but make it unthinkable.”
If Republicans support Coleman’s law mirroring the Texas restrictions on abortions, it could go into affect by early 2022. On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would sue Texas over its abortion ban.
Currently, Missouri cannot enforce a law that bans abortions after eight weeks due to a legal challenge that is moving through federal courts. If the eight-week ban were to pass, or a new law mirroring Texas’ restrictions were to go into affect, local politicians like the St. Louis mayor worry metro-east health care centers that provide abortions would be strained.
She called on Missouri lawmakers to not follow in Texas’ footsteps and called the law “inhumane/.”
She said laws like the one Coleman is proposing will cost the state money when businesses bypass coming to St. Louis and other areas of Missouri.
She said laws that restrict abortion access deny people the right to choose when they want to start a family and sets them up for failure.
“Texas’ inhumane six-week abortion ban prohibits abortions under any circumstances including rape and incest. That doesn’t sound pro-life to me. They’re pro-birth, not pro-life,” Jones said. “Under this ban people no longer have control over their lives, they cannot decide when they become parents, something that will greatly affect their lives and income.”
Advocates are concerned about what Texas law means for Missouri
When Missouri first banned abortions after eight weeks in 2019, Washington University student Ibura Denaan, 23, said she wasn’t plugged into what was happening.
“The Texas bill had me looking at Missouri,” she said after the rally. “[Missouri] was almost first. It really pisses me off.”
Some of Denaan’s relatives almost had children as teenagers, and she said she couldn’t imagine how different their lives would be. Listening to people share their experiences made Denaan emotional because “people don’t really speak on it.”
“I’m here to make sure that what happened in Texas doesn’t happen in Missouri,” said Beth Gombos. They work with the Metro Trans Umbrella Group, a local advocacy and education group for transgender people in the St. Louis area.
“Our folks are going to be the most affected,” Gombos said of Black, brown, indigenous and LGBTQ people.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 7:11 PM.