Plan B

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.

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.

The Missouri Family Health Council is using federal funds to allow Missourians to request kits with free contraceptive pills by visiting their website or going to one of the partnering in-person centers to pick them up.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he has no plans to call a special legislative session to protect access to contraceptives and address ectopic pregnancies. Democratic leaders called on the governor to hold a special session now that the state has banned nearly all abortions.

Missouri's governor clarified that "contraceptives are not abortions" and are not affected by the new abortion ban. But Saint Luke's said the law's ambiguity "continues to cause grave concern and will require careful monitoring."

Missouri has now banned abortion in the state, except in cases where a parent’s health is severely threatened. But the full effects of the state’s ban and its legal ramifications are still to be seen, and activists on both sides say their work is far from over.

The Missouri legislature needs to finalize an agreement to accept major Medicaid funding from the federal government, but Republican lawmakers aren’t on the same page. The fight is over birth control.