Missouri Enters Race to the Bottom on Abortion Access

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2019
Contact: Liza Dee, [email protected]

Statement from Andrea Miller, president, The National Institute for Reproductive Health

MISSOURI – Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH), today released the following statement following the Missouri legislature’s passage of an extreme abortion ban. HB 126 would prevent abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy and is the latest in a recent string of egregious laws passed in a number of states to strip away the right to access abortion.

“Missouri is the latest state to enter the race to the bottom when it comes to anti-abortion extremism,” said Andrea Miller, president of NIRH. “Encouraged by the Trump administration and a hostile Supreme Court, anti-abortion legislators are now apparently trying to outdo one another in pushing abortion completely out of reach. Missouri’s HB 126 is yet another bill designed to prevent women from making their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures.

“NIRH remains steadfast in our commitment to our state and local partners across the country, and we will continue to fight for legislation that protects and expands access to abortion – especially in the face of these egregious attacks.”

For more than a decade, NIRH has been a leader in the fight to advance reproductive freedom across the country. Recently, they were integral to the successful effort to repeal an outdated criminal abortion ban in Massachusetts, and they led the fight to pass New York’s landmark Reproductive Health Act. Earlier this year, NIRH published a report tracking the passage of more than 100 bills to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice in 27 states and the District of Columbia.
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The National Institute for Reproductive Health builds power at the state and local level to change public policy, galvanize public support, and normalize women’s decisions about abortion and contraception.

Using a partnership model, NIRH provides state and local advocates with strategic guidance, hands-on support, and funding to create national change from the ground up. We form strategic partnerships with a wide range of organizations to directly impact the reproductive health and lives of women across the country. Each year, NIRH works in at least 20 states and more than a dozen localities; to date, NIRH has partnered with more than 170 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in 43 states and 64 localities across the country.