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Politico
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Missouri voters will again vote on abortion
TOP LINE In 2024, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights into the state's constitution by three percentage points, being one of seven states to do so that year following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now, the state is set to vote on the issue again, after Republican lawmakers put an abortion ban referendum that includes exceptions for rape and incest up for a vote. The lawmakers' measure would in effect repeal Amendment 3, the current state constitutional amendment which protects the right to an abortion in the state. Voters are likely to see the issue on the 2026 general election ballot, but Missouri's Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe could call a special election sooner. Kehoe's office did not respond to a request for comment. Abortion rights groups cast the lawmaker-driven measure as an attack on the democratic process, while anti-abortion groups commend Republicans for giving voters another chance to decide the issue. 'Over 1.5 million Missourians voted to enshrine access to abortion in the Missouri State Constitution, and politicians are trying to change the rules of the game midstream to try to stop all that from happening,' said Rianne Hawkins, vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action. Anti-abortion groups are calling on Missouri Republicans to be more vocal in advocating for the measure after abortion rights advocates vastly outspent their anti-abortion counterparts last year. 'We call on Missouri GOP leaders in Washington and across the state to offer their strong, vocal support of this measure. When GOP leaders engage, we win on abortion ballot measures,' said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, in a statement. Missouri's referendum will be the first where voters will have the choice to repeal a post-Dobbs abortion-rights measure that has already passed. And this isn't the first time the Missouri legislature has sought to undo policies that were created via ballot measure. Lawmakers are also seeking to limit the effect of a ballot measure that increased minimum wage and mandated paid sick leave, and in past years they tried to block voter-approved Medicaid expansions. The measure will not specifically mention repealing Amendment 3. Instead, it will ask voters if they want to 'ensure women's safety during abortions', 'ensure parental consent for minors' and 'allow abortions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape, and incest.' The measure also asks if voters want to 'protect children from gender transition,' because it would prohibit gender transition surgeries and hormone treatments for minors, which is already illegal in the state. For now, abortion remains legal in the state, although actually getting one has proven challenging due to providers in the state being tied up with court battles. Happy Tuesday, I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. Reach me: @andrewjfhoward or ahoward@ Days until the New Jersey primary: 14 Days until the Virginia primary: 21 Days until the New York City primary: 28 Days until the 2025 election: 161 Days until the midterms: 525 Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. CAMPAIGN INTEL ENDORSEMENT CORNER — FIRST IN SCORE: The Working Families Party is making its first endorsement of the midterms, backing Adelita Grijalva in the Tucson district formerly held by her father. 'Adelita Grijalva has a proven track record of fighting for working families in Arizona,' said Matthew Marquez, Southwest campaigns director for the WFP. 2028 WATCH — 'The Democrats' 2028 podcast primary is well underway,' AP's Meg Kinnard and Adriana Gomez Licon note. 'From Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, potential presidential contenders are following the lead of President Donald Trump, who frequently went on podcasts appealing to younger men during his 2024 campaign.' … 'Rahm Emanuel, Teasing a White House Bid, Says Democratic Brand Is Weak,' by The Wall Street Journal's John McCormick. 'While Emanuel is coy about what he wants next for his political career, he appears to be laying the groundwork for a presidential bid. He will be the headliner at a September fish fry for Democrats in Iowa, where the party's nomination process traditionally started until 2024.' DEMOCRATIC MESSAGING — 'Six months after President Trump swept the battleground states, the Democratic Party is still sifting through the wreckage,' The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher writes. 'The Democratic base is aghast at the speed with which Mr. Trump is undermining institutions and reversing progressive accomplishments — and at the lack of resistance from congressional leaders. Primary challenges are on the rise headed into 2026, often along generational and ideological lines.' … 'Democratic troubles revive debate over left-wing buzzwords,' by The Washington Post's Naftali Bendavid. … Democrats are working to mend their relationships with rural voters, AP's Bill Barrow writes in a dispatch from Paintsville, Kentucky, where he attended 'Rural Listening Tour,' hosted by the state's Democratic Party. HARRIS' NEXT MOVE — California Republicans want Kamala Harris to run for governor, POLITICO's Jeremy B. White reports. Her potential bid 'is already bringing GOP candidates tactical benefits, allowing them to run against a high-profile adversary who's likely to energize donors and the conservative rank-and-file.' ON THE AIRWAVES — Democrats are preparing to launch an ad war against Republicans over Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' POLITICO's Elena Schneider reported Friday. MEGABILL POLITICS — 'RNC chair pressures Senate GOP 'to deliver' on Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,'' by The Hill's Ashleigh Fields. NYC MAYOR — 'What It Looks Like As Andrew Cuomo Closes In on Mayoralty,' by my colleagues Jeff Coltin and Mark Ostow. VOTING — 'Prove citizenship to vote? For some married women, it might not be so easy,' Patrick Marley and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez report for The Washington Post. ELECTION CALENDAR — 'Rep. Derrick Van Orden pitches ending spring elections after series of Republican losses,' by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea. 'Republicans don't vote. Period. Like, we just don't vote in spring elections,' Van Orden told reporters in Rothschild, Wisconsin, on May 17, according to Beck and Andrea. CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'In some ways I'm glad I missed that second term,' President Donald Trump said during his Memorial Day speech.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Missouri Voters Overturned an Abortion Ban. Lawmakers Will Ask Them to Reconsider.
In November, Missouri became the first state to overturn a near-total abortion ban by a citizen-sponsored ballot measure. On Wednesday, it became the first state to try to reverse that decision through a ballot question, after the Republican-controlled legislature approved a measure that would ask voters to ban abortion again. The question will appear on the ballot in November 2026, although Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican who opposes abortion rights, could choose to put the issue before voters in a special election before that. The measure would amend the state Constitution to ban abortion except in medical emergencies, or in cases of rape or incest if the assault was reported to police within 48 hours and the pregnancy is less than 12 weeks along. The measure would also ban gender-affirming surgery or medications for minors. The legislature approved the measure on the penultimate day of its session after fierce opposition from Democrats and infighting among Republicans, some of whom argued that the new amendment should not include exceptions for rape and incest. The move bucks the trend on abortion-related ballot measures. Voters have sided with abortion rights in 14 out of 17 times that the question has appeared on state ballots in the three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had for five decades recognized a right to abortion in the Constitution. Opponents of abortion rights have grown wary of putting the question before voters, and in states such as Florida and Arkansas, are instead trying to make it harder for citizens to put questions on the ballot, or pass ballot measures. But Republicans who control the levers of state government in Missouri have long been fiercely anti-abortion; it was the first state to officially ban abortion after the court overturned Roe. They are hoping it will not take much to reverse the amendment approved in November, which passed with support from just under 52 percent of the vote. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, applauded the measure, saying the abortion rights amendment passed in November was 'far too extreme and dangerous.' She argued that anti-abortion questions could win if Republicans campaigned vocally for them. 'When G.O.P. leaders engage, we win on abortion ballot measures,' she said in a statement. The coalition of abortion rights groups behind the ballot question passed in November called the legislature's move 'a direct assault on voters,' and said the language in the measure is deceptive: The title of the resolution the legislature approved says it relates 'to reproductive health care' and does not make reference to a ban or restrictions. 'Abortion rights won in this state six months ago, and mark my words: Missourians will protect reproductive freedom again,' Emily Wales, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, said in a statement. 'We'll knock on doors, speak with voters, and do what the legislature refused. We'll let Missourians be heard.' The ballot measure that passed in November amended the state Constitution to establish a right to reproductive freedom, including a right to abortion until viability, which is the point in pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the uterus, generally around 24 weeks. The legislature can restrict abortion after viability, except in cases where a 'treating health care professional' determines that the abortion is needed to protect the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. Still, it took months for abortion clinics in Missouri to begin offering services, as providers argued that remaining restrictions on abortion made it impossible. While a judge has struck down many of those restrictions, Republicans have also passed a law making it easier to appeal those decisions.
New York Post
08-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Some congressional Republicans oppose defunding Planned Parenthood in Trump's ‘big, beautiful' bill
Some centrist Republican lawmakers have signaled opposition to including provisions defunding Planned Parenthood in sweeping legislation intended to advance President Trump's second-term agenda. A GOP aide familiar with the House deliberations surrounding Trump's 'one, big beautiful' bill told the Post that moderate members of the caucus are opposed to language directing cuts to the abortion and reproductive healthcare provider that other lawmakers hope to include in the massive reconciliation package. Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) were among the lawmakers that voiced opposition to Planned Parenthood cuts during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that included House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), NOTUS reported on Wednesday. Advertisement 3 Some centrist Republican lawmakers appear to oppose provisions defunding Planned Parenthood. REUTERS 'I think there's other policy areas that we need to focus on,' Fitzpatrick told the outlet ahead of the meeting, noting that he planned to bring up the rumblings around cuts targeting abortion providers. 'We need simplicity in this bill,' he added. Advertisement Lawler expressed concern that potential cuts to the nonprofit and conservative lightning rod would impact the ability of women to access health care. 'Obviously, Planned Parenthood does provide a lot of services outside of abortion-related services,' the congressman noted, telling NOTUS that he is 'not for taking away people's health care.' A Kiggans spokesperson told the outlet that the congresswoman 'is proudly pro-life and firmly opposes any federal funding for abortion.' '[Kiggans] attended a closed-door policy discussion with House leadership and Republican colleagues focused on Medicaid reform within the broader reconciliation process. The Congresswoman supports thoughtful, targeted Medicaid reforms that strengthen the program, preserve its integrity, and ensure it serves those who it was originally intended to help,' the spokesperson added. Advertisement 3 Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) was reportedly one of the lawmakers opposed to Planned Parenthood cuts. AP Meanwhile, Johnson contended that defunding Planned Parenthood 'was not on our agenda.' The House speaker, however, told a conservative audience last week that 'big abortion' would be targeted for cuts in the megabill. 'In the weeks ahead, the House is gonna be working on the one big, beautiful bill,' Johnson said during a speech at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America gala. 'We're absolutely making it clear to everybody that this bill is going to redirect funds away from big abortion and to federally qualified health centers.' Advertisement 3 'We're absolutely making it clear to everybody that this bill is going to redirect funds away from big abortion,' House Speaker Mike Johnson said. Michael Brochstein/ZUMA / The Hyde Amendment already prevents taxpayer dollars from being directly used to cover the cost of abortions. Federal money Planned Parenthood receives to cover other services – through the Medicaid program, for example – could be targeted in an effort to indirectly deliver a blow to the abortion provider's bottom line. The reconciliation bill is expected to include provisions extending Trump's first-term tax cuts, increasing funding for border security and raising the nation's debt ceiling. As part of the scramble to pass the legislation by the Fourth of July, House lawmakers are looking for ways to cut between $800 million to $1.5 trillion in spending to offset the cost of Trump's priorities.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We got arrested for praying at the U.S. Capitol. But we won't be deterred.
A week ago Monday, Congress returned to Washington to begin work on the federal budget and, by week's end, the White House had released its 'skinny budget' that is its outline to make permanent the cuts attempted by Elon Musk's DOGE effort. These disastrous proposals, which come out of the same Project 2025 playbook that Trump disavowed during his campaign, would devastate the most vulnerable people in our communities. As pastors who preach Jesus' good news to the poor, on April 28, we joined moral leaders from religious denominations and civic organizations to launch 'Moral Mondays' at the U.S. Capitol. We spent the first 100 days of Trump's presidency studying his administration's proposals to dismantle the federal government, and we issued a report with the Institute for Policy Studies to help the public understand what the consequences of a Trump budget would be. Lifting the cries of people whose lives could be destroyed, we bowed our heads in prayer in the Capitol Rotunda. After several minutes, officers were dispatched to ask us to stop praying. But our conscience would not allow us to stop. Though we were arrested and carried away, we have not stopped praying. Moral Monday is back at the Capitol today to continue to lift a collective prayer that we all might be saved from this immoral budget. Ironically, three days later, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was in the Rose Garden observing the National Day of Prayer with religious leaders who have chosen to whitewash over Trump's policy violence. Johnson bowed his head and asked God's blessings not only for the nation, but also for the immoral agenda that he has agreed to champion as 'one big, beautiful bill.' Earlier in the week, Johnson could not help smirking as he used Trump's moniker for the monstrous budget at a 'Pro-Life America' banquet in Washington. 'Don't judge me if I have to name it that,' Johnson chuckled, 'it's what we, uh, it's what he, wants to do.' True prayer is always an invitation to humble ourselves before God and acknowledge our human limitations. Yet, Christian nationalist leaders like Speaker Johnson want to appropriate prayer as divine blessing for the things God hates. They claim to celebrate the role of public prayer in U.S. history, noting that the Continental Congress called for a day of 'Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer' during the American Revolution. But it's not right for leaders such as Johnson to try to claim the moral authority of patriots who cried out to God while they risked life and liberty to challenge a tyrant — not when they're cowering obediently to billionaires, abdicating their responsibility and bowing to the will of an American president acting like a dictator. Theirs is the hypocritical form of prayer that Amos confronted in the Bible and led him to prophesy in the voice of God, 'I hate your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me.' When political leaders use religion to try to justify policies that hurt women, children, immigrants and the vulnerable, Amos declares that their prayers become an offense to God. 'Woe unto you,' Jesus says to the religious leaders of his own day who used their office to prop up a Roman regime that exploited the poor. 'You have neglected,' he said, 'the weightier matters of the law.' We've brought Moral Mondays to the U.S. Capitol because the 'weightier matters' of our religious and moral traditions, which call us to protect the poor and the most vulnerable in our communities, are being neglected as an agenda backed by a narrow set of billionaires aims to dismantle our nation's social safety net. A dozen years ago, we witnessed a similar effort to deconstruct state government programs in North Carolina. Though extremists who controlled all three branches of state government at the time had the power to pursue this agenda, we knew the struggle wasn't Democrats versus Republicans. It was a moral struggle that could unite all of us. When we began with a small number of religious and moral leaders in April 2013, Gov. Pat McCrory's approval rating was 65%. By the end of that summer, in which we'd held Moral Mondays every week, he was polling at 30%, and he never recovered. McCrory was the only incumbent Republican governor to lose a re-election bid in 2016. Trump and Johnson want to pass this immoral budget before Memorial Day, but the truth is that only 35% of Americans support their trial run of these cuts through DOGE in Trump's first 100 days. Twelve House Republicans have already written to Johnson to say they cannot support proposed cuts to Medicaid. Whether we care for the poor, the sick and the vulnerable is not a question of partisan loyalty, but of moral commitment. We are bringing the prayers of millions to our nation's Capitol because we continue to believe that the values of love, mercy and justice are moral values that go deeper than partisan loyalty. We have written to congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle and asked them to pray with us and with members of our communities who would be impacted by these proposed cuts. We know the power of prayer to change hearts. But whether they change or not, we will continue to pray that one more powerful than our elected leaders will save us from the destruction they have planned. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
"Complete chaos': How Trump is already accelerating the reproductive rights crisis
On Friday, thousands of anti-abortion advocates gathered for the annual National March for Life event in Washington. In a pre-recorded message, President Donald Trump said he was 'so proud to be a participant' in overturning Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right to abortion that was reversed by the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. Trump also pledged that he stood 'proudly for families and for life,' striking a slightly different tone than he had later on in the campaign trail. After delivering the message, Trump signed his first set of executive orders directly aimed at abortion rights after officially becoming president. The orders were celebrated by anti-abortion advocates, with the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America calling them 'a big win for babies and mothers.' The first executive order moved to 'end the forced use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion' by enforcing the Hyde Amendment. The second revived a policy known as the 'Global Gag Rule,' which states if global non-governmental organizations receive funding from the United States, they are banned from providing or offering information about abortions. Notably, the Global Gag Rule has historically been reinstated under Republican presidents since 1984. As Salon previously reported, this move was expected as the first Trump administration made a similar move in 2017. But both executive orders come at a time when reproductive rights are in crisis across America thanks to the post-Dobbs landscape, marked by preventable deaths of infants and pregnant people while doctors flee abortion ban states, all of which is increasing what's at stake both in the U.S. and internationally. "Even before Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Hyde Amendment marginalized and stigmatized reproductive health care rather than acknowledging that it is essential, sometimes life-saving care,' Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of the National Abortion Fund, told Salon. 'President Trump's Executive Order to enforce the Hyde Amendment creates yet another barrier to abortion access, specifically targeting low-income women and pregnant people who rely on Medicaid access and may otherwise be unable to afford abortion care.' Indeed, the previous consequences of the Hyde Amendment have been devastating. In a dissenting opinion, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall said in 1980 it was designed to 'deprive poor and minority women of the constitutional right to choose abortion.' It also paved the way for more anti-abortion federal restrictions to take hold throughout the last few decades. Previous studies have shown that when policymakers place restrictions on Medicaid coverage of abortion, one in four low-income women seeking an abortion is forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. "The Hyde Amendment further hurts those who already struggle to access basic health care,' Fonteno said. 'It demonstrates yet again, that Trump and anti-abortion extremists prioritize politics over people.'In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision, significantly changing the landscape of reproductive care access across the country. As of the end of December 2024, according to KFF's dashboard, 12 states have completely banned abortions. Six states restrict abortion access between 6 and 12 weeks of gestation. Four restrict access between 18 and 22 weeks. In contrast, 14 states have enshrined reproductive rights, including abortion access, into their state constitutions. While it has been well-documented that restrictive policies limit abortion access for people of low socioeconomic status, the post-Dobbs landscape has only worsened this. 'Post-Dobbs, state abortion bans have widened the already huge access gap created by the high cost of health care in our country, which is felt most acutely by low-income communities and communities of color,' Fonteno said. 'Millions of women of reproductive age live in states where abortion is banned and nearly one in five must travel, often hundreds of miles, to get care.' Depending on where a person needs to travel, they can easily spend up to $1,500 or $2,000 on travel expenses alone. Notably, it's estimated that only one in three Americans can comfortably cover a $400 emergency expense, and insurance will rarely cover an abortion procedure out of state. Mini Timmarajui, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said during Trump's campaign, he tried to downplay his role in overturning Roe v. Wade. 'Now he has spent his first week in office handing down anti-abortion directives gutting federal protections,' Timmaraju said. 'These policies inflict harm on those who need access to reproductive health care, including abortion, in our country, and around the world.' Indeed, the effects of these executive orders won't only be felt in the U.S. but globally. As detailed by Guttmacher Institue, the first Trump administration's Global Gag Rule expansions had 'devastating' impacts internationally, such as decreasing access to abortion and contraceptive care. It also created a 'chilling' effect among clinicians who were scared to share family-planning resources due to a fear of it affecting funding. Previous studies on the implementation of the Global Gag Rule have found that it can affect public health initiatives in other countries, like their HIV and AIDS programs. Tarah Demant, senior director of programs at Amnesty International USA, said in a media statement that Trump's executive order reinstating the Global Gag Rule now throws global reproductive healthcare 'into complete chaos.' 'The consequences of President Trump's global gag rule are not theoretical,' Demant said. 'As we've seen before, from blocking access to needed contraception to forcing more unsafe abortions and increasing maternal death rates, this attack on human rights will cause devastating harms for people worldwide in need of reproductive health care.' People who see these consequences on the ground say this especially harms young women who are victims of rape, incest, and child marriage. In a media statement, Rachel Milkovich, global health policy specialist at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, said people around the world will now have 'fewer points of service for their sexual and reproductive health needs' and fewer 'safe places' to talk about their medical options. In some cases, restricting access to these services can be fatal. 'There are deadly consequences anytime access to sexual and reproductive health care is restricted,' Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF, said. 'In the countries where MSF works, our staff see the lifesaving impact of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services — and we have seen patients who have died or suffered life-altering injuries because they were denied access to care.'
