Anna Spoerre
Reporter, Missouri IndependentAnna Spoerre covers reproductive health care for The Missouri Independent. A graduate of Southern Illinois University, she most recently worked at the Kansas City Star where she focused on storytelling that put people at the center of wider issues. Before that she was a courts reporter for the Des Moines Register.
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The proposed amendment, if passed by the Senate and approved in a statewide election, would repeal the reproductive rights measure passed by voters in November. It would allow some exceptions in the first 12 weeks of gestation, but House Speaker Jon Patterson said that doesn't go far enough to protect assault victims. -
In Missouri, pregnant women can't get a divorce unless they have a custody agreement settled. "No matter how deep the pain, the law kept me legally bound to him," state Rep. Cecelie Williams said of her attempt to divorce her abusive husband while pregnant with their fourth child. -
Pregnancy resource centers have proven controversial around the country, accused of providing women with inaccurate medical information in an effort to discourage them from seeking abortions. -
Law experts say the Republican bill could also open the door to lawsuits against anyone who assists someone in obtaining a “self-managed” abortion — no matter how early in the pregnancy. It's one of the first bills attempting to chip away at Missouri's abortion-rights amendment. -
Lawmakers and anti-abortion activists gathered at Planned Parenthood clinics around Missouri just days after abortion services returned. State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman vowed that "there will be another option to vote" on abortion. -
The constitutional amendment approved by Missouri voters protects abortion access until the point of fetal viability, when a fetus can survive on its own outside the womb without extraordinary medical interventions. But the phrase does not have a precise definition — or date. -
A proposal by Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman would outlaw the use of restraints on pregnant women in the third trimester, during labor and for the first 48 hours postpartum “except in extraordinary circumstances.” Missouri banned the practice in state prisons in 2018. -
‘The overarching goal is to make sure they realize their life doesn’t stop just because they’re a teen father,’ said James Hogue, the founder of Dad Prep Academy. -
Republican lawmakers have proposed a number of constitutional amendments that would overturn Amendment 3. Some include exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, a departure from the party’s recent stance on abortion. -
A Jackson County judge on Wednesday will hear Planned Parenthood’s attempt to overturn a number of Missouri laws regulating abortion. Meanwhile, several GOP legislators have already filed bills hoping to reinstate an abortion ban.
