Missouri Democrats hope Supreme Court leak on Roe v. Wade a ‘wakeup call’ for voters
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What does overturning Roe v. Wade mean for KS, MO?
Kansas and Missouri now have more control over abortion access in their state following the Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 court ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right. Here’s what that looks like.
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Just more than 12 hours after a bombshell report indicated that the U.S. Supreme Court would likely overturn the landmark case that legalized abortion, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made one point clear:
If Roe v. Wade is struck down, he will immediately issue an opinion rendering nearly all abortions in Missouri illegal.
A Missouri law passed in 2019 would almost entirely criminalize abortion if Roe is overturned, a “trigger” provision in a bill that prohibits abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy that’s currently under legal challenge.
A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion, published by Politico Monday night, would overrule the federal constitutional protections of abortion rights. While the ruling could change before the court finalizes its opinion this summer, the report appeared to be an election-season inflection point for legislators in Jefferson City.
For many, it ramped up the importance of upcoming statehouse elections in a post-Roe world. Missouri, where Republican supermajorities reign supreme in both chambers, could be headed for one of the most stringent abortion bans in the country.
While several Republicans in the Missouri legislature almost immediately took to social media to celebrate Monday’s news, the initial Democratic response was largely muted. A combination of disappointment, fear and resignation deadened the reaction.
“My first impression when I read the headline last night was fear,” Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, told The Star Tuesday. “As a woman in this state who is raising a young woman in this state, it really scared me. Fear was the gut reaction.”
But, with little power to fight a wave of abortion-related legislation, Democrats are hoping that the draft opinion could be a wake up call for voters. They plan to stress the gravity of the decision in this year’s elections.
“With a superminority of pro-choice legislators, there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Wes Rogers, a Kansas City Democrat. “So the only option left at this point is for voters…to elect more pro-choice elected officials.”
Abortion options already are few in Missouri, due in large part to years of Republican legislation that has whittled away at the law. A single Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis performs the procedure.
Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in a statement Tuesday said her organization had been preparing for the day that Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“For now, patients seeking abortion care in Missouri and Illinois, can and should continue to show up for your appointments — abortion remains legal today,” the statement said. “No matter what, with our partners, we will fight for what little is left of abortion access in Missouri and push forward to expand in Illinois where abortion access is protected beyond Roe.”
In Jefferson City, Republicans have party control over the governor’s office and both chambers.
The state’s abortion law, which is currently blocked in court, bans abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy. It contains no exceptions for rape or incest. If Roe is overturned, an outright ban would go into effect upon proclamation by either Gov. Mike Parson, an opinion from Schmitt, or passage of a resolution by the General Assembly.
Schmitt, who is running for U.S. Senate, on Tuesday said he’s “prepared to immediately issue the opinion that would protect the unborn in Missouri.”
If state Democrats are going to appeal to voters, they need to be careful with their messaging around abortions, Rogers said.
They should focus on the implications of an abortion ban, like the effect on victims of rape and incest, a woman’s right to privacy and how the move would appear to go against Republicans’ often-mentioned goal of limited government, he said. Democrats may lose voters if they promote abortion outright, he said.
“It remains to be seen whether this will be a winner or a loser for the Democrats,” he said. “And, frankly, if Democrats message poorly, I think it will be a loser.”
A poll conducted last week by The Washington Post and ABC News found that a majority of Americans say the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade. More broadly, the poll found 58% of Americans say abortion should be legal in “most cases” or “all cases,” while 37% said it should be illegal.
“It will be central to the elections in November. No question about it,” he said. “The Democrats were already prepared for that. I suspect the Republicans are too. I personally think both sides might be a little disappointed in that people have pretty well already dug in on their side.”
Messaging, according to some Democrats, is important because the precedent set by the draft opinion gives broad power to state legislatures. Some fear that it could cause a ripple effect, undermining other cases including LGBTQ protections and civil rights.
“What’s next on the chopping block?” Aune asked. “What is it that we are going to be up against in the Missouri legislature? What are we going to be fighting? Will we be defending gay marriage at the state level, desegregating schools?”
Aune, who is running for re-election this year, said she’s told her constituents the importance of the Roe v. Wade decision and elections at the state level. She said state governments are now “the last line of defense.”
“I think we’ve gotten really lost in some messaging. It’s so incredibly nuanced,” she said. “Doctors and families should be the people making these decisions. It is a personal, private healthcare matter. State legislators do not have all of the information for every single healthcare decision.”
Many Republicans seized at the draft opinion as a chance to promote the flurry of abortion-related bills that have floated through the legislature in recent years. Among the proposals this year were bills that targeted abortion-inducing drugs, allowed lawsuits against anyone helping Missourians obtain an abortion across state lines and a declaration that the right to an abortion violated the state constitution.
“The issue of abortion should ALWAYS have been an issue decided by the various state legislatures, and I’m proud to say that Missouri with this ruling would immediately become one of the most pro-life states in the nation,” Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican, said on Twitter.
With many Republicans eyeing legislation targeting abortions, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, told The Star that Democrats’ No. 1 focus is the polls.
“I hope that with this potential ruling that it makes folks realize how important local elections are and really gets folks out to volunteer and help with elections,” she said. “So we are electing people who understand that this should be a decision between folks and their doctors.”
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 5:54 PM.
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