reproductive health

Missouri officials have proposed cutting tens of millions of dollars in services for people with disabilities. And Montana halted a plan to pay for birthing doulas amid a budget shortfall and fears over coming federal Medicaid cuts.

Hours after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill aimed at protecting crisis pregnancy centers, Republican lawmakers reversed the veto, citing a desire to preserve life in the state.

The activists who tried and failed to defeat Missouri's 2024 abortion-rights amendment have regrouped under a new PAC called“Her Health, Her Future." They're betting that more time, tighter coordination and earlier backing from top Missouri Republicans can help them pass an abortion ban measure this fall.

Labor, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and faith groups in Missouri are testing a shared message against what they see as a growing list of threats from Republican lawmakers — including a plan to eliminate the state income tax and expand sales taxes on goods and services.

The bill prohibits state and local governments from requiring centers perform abortions, counsel clients in favor of abortion, and hire people “who do not affirm the center’s mission or pro-life ethic.” Gov. Laura Kelly can veto the bill, sign it or let it become law without her signature.

Mifepristone is facing another major legal challenge. The NPR Network wants to hear from people who've been prescribed the medication about their experiences.

For the second year in a row, state Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, is sponsoring a proposed constitutional amendment that would treat embryos as people, potentially exposing abortion patients and providers to murder charges and eliminating rape and incest exceptions.

Currently, pregnant women in Missouri can file for divorce, but a judge could prevent it from being finalized. House lawmakers voted 147-0 to pass a bill removing that barrier.

The legislation threatens the death penalty if doctors don't provide life-saving care to babies born after an attempted abortion. It also opens the door for lawsuits against people who help someone access abortion medication.

Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics can currently perform procedural abortions but state laws limit the scope of care, and medication abortion is blocked. A trial in Jackson County could clarify which state-imposed standards abortion providers must meet.

At a protest in the state Capitol on Wednesday, hundreds of Missourians urged lawmakers to respect their will on reproductive rights and paid sick leave — two measures that voters passed in 2024 but the legislature moved to reverse immediately after.

For the tens of thousands of Missouri women seeking abortions and the clinic staff charged with offering this health care, the past decade has presented harrowing challenges. That’s what attorneys on behalf of Planned Parenthood argued in the first week of a trial in Kansas City that could reshape Missouri abortion regulations.