Reproductive rights

A Missouri hospital violated federal law by denying Mylissa Farmer an abortion when her water broke at 17 weeks.

The National Women’s Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court on behalf of 13 faith leaders in Missouri. The lawsuit claims Missouri’s so-called trigger ban and other laws restricting abortion access violate residents’ religious freedom.

A Missouri woman who was denied an abortion prompted an unprecedented federal investigation into whether a hospital violated the law by failing to provide her medical care.

Beginning Tuesday, Planned Parenthood will take over the former Tri-Rivers Family Planning center in Rolla. The Title X health center will offer contraceptives, pregnancy tests and other reproductive health services to residents throughout Missouri.

The attorney general is suing St. Louis over its plan to use federal funds to support abortion access. But after the case was moved to federal court, reproductive rights groups worry that a ruling could further curtail abortion access for the entire region.

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved a plan Friday that would use federal coronavirus relief funds to help those seeking abortions in another state. Advocates say this is necessary to protect women’s reproductive health.

Bodily autonomy is a principle of the disability rights movement. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, people with disabilities worry about how they will be disproportionately affected.

The special session of the General Assembly in the coming weeks to focus on legislation to strengthen women’s access to abortion and other reproductive health services in Illinois.

The measure set to be introduced Friday by 8th Ward Alderwoman Annie Rice and others sets up a Reproductive Equity Fund and uses $1.75 million in federal coronavirus relief funds as seed money.

Abortion rights advocates in Missouri and Illinois are decrying a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the landmark decision that legalized abortion. They say abortion providers in the Metro East will become safe havens for people in the Midwest and South, as abortion is expected to remain legal in Illinois.