birth control

The Missouri Family Health Council saw a spike in emergency contraception kits following election day. To keep up, volunteers gathered in Jefferson City to help build the kits.

While passing Amendment 3 safeguards abortion rights in Missouri for now, health care providers say people are still worried about access to reproductive care under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

In the two years following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned abortion protections nationwide, the practice was almost entirely banned in Missouri. Meanwhile, clinics in Kansas have seen out-of-state abortion patients skyrocket.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains hosted a low-cost vasectomy clinic this week at its Kansas City, Kansas, health center to kick off the service. The U.S. has seen demand for vasectomies increase after the Supreme Court overturned abortion protections.

The new law will go into effect Aug. 28. Planned Parenthood, Democratic lawmakers and health organizations say the ban will cause the most harm to low-income Missourians who rely on the clinics for contraceptives, STI testing, cancer screenings and more.

A bill that would improve health care access for Missouri women almost died in the House after some Republican lawmakers falsely conflated birth control with abortion medication. Now, GOP infighting in the Senate could derail it from becoming law.

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. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales are going to the Missouri Abortion Fund.

A mobile clinic is swinging through several Missouri cities offering free vasectomies this week. The procedure takes just about 10 minutes and can be done in outpatient settings.

In a ruling Monday, Circuit Judge Jon Beetem wrote that the summaries crafted by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft were "argumentative" or unfairly biased against the abortion rights ballot initiatives, and ignored their protections for contraceptives.. Beetem rewrote each of the six ballot summaries himself.

After the Missouri legislature voted to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements last year, Planned Parenthood sued. A judge concluded it was unconstitutional for the state to deny access to funds available to other health care providers, but the attorney general's office is appealing.

According to findings from a Right Time survey, more than 50% of Missourians do not believe or know that emergency contraception is legal. The survey also found that roughly 72% of respondents across party lines want the state legislature to pass laws that make birth control more accessible and affordable.

Missouri was the first state to pass a near-total abortion ban after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But advocates also say the decision has had spillover effects, sowing confusion over the legality of contraception and concern over doctors’ discretion to provide emergency care.