Rebecca Smith
Rebecca Smith is an award-winning reporter and producer for the KBIA Health & Wealth Desk. Born and raised outside of Rolla, Missouri, she has a passion for diving into often overlooked issues that affect the rural populations of her state – especially stories that broaden people’s perception of “rural” life. She created a conversations-based journalism project, Missouri Health Talks, in 2016 that empowers people throughout the state to share their stories of access to healthcare – in their own words.
She has degrees in both Journalism and Chemistry from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and often says health reporting is the perfect marriage of individual’s stories and reporting on science.
You can reach her at smithbecky@missouri.edu or 573-882-4824.
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Missouri has banned medical gender-affirming care for youth and some adults since 2023. But other forms of gender-affirming care is happening in the state — including haircuts, facial waxing and photography — and advocates say it's saving lives. -
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law a bill that eliminates the so-called "tampon tax" on menstrual products and diapers. But the law doesn't prevent local municipalities from imposing their own additional taxes. -
Even after Missouri Republicans pushed through a measure that would ban most abortions again, which voters will likely see on the 2026 ballot, Planned Parenthood will continue offering abortion services throughout the state. -
According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, approximately 19,000 people are released from prison every year. For Paige Spears, it took 37 years to walk free. -
Abortions became available in Columbia once again this week. The procedure has been inaccessible to those living in mid-Missouri since the last abortion was performed at the Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic in 2018. -
Appointments at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia are not yet available due to doctors’ schedules, but will be in the “next few weeks.” Patients in mid-Missouri have long had to travel long distances to obtain abortion care. -
Thirty-four Missouri residents — aged 11 months to 96 years — died last year due to heat-related illness, according to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services. -
More than 300,000 people are expected to head to Sedalia for the Missouri State Fair. Keeping that many people safe is a responsibility that’s actually too big for the town of about 22,000 people — but each year they get plenty of help. -
Prison can be a lonely, violent place. But one program — or more specifically, one Jefferson City, Missouri, prison resident — is helping change the men around him. -
The fur industry has a long history in the state of Missouri. While it looks different these days, it’s still around, and trappers at the annual Missouri fur auction want to make sure they're conserving the state's resources and traditions.
