After the practice was made illegal in Missouri in late June, local lawmakers in the state’s two largest cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, are taking action to support women who wish to travel to neighbouring states for abortions.
The city manager must create a plan for payment for “healthcare-related travel expenses and any other barriers for healthcare not available within the City’s limits,” according to a resolution adopted by the Kansas City Council on June 30.
While the resolution does not mention abortion by name, it hints that “recent impediments have been imposed to accessing complete, comprehensive reproductive healthcare in the State of Missouri.” The resolution also directs the city manager to negotiate a mid-year enrollment period for city employees to choose a healthcare plan that covers abortions.
On the other side of the state, a bill under consideration in St. Louis would create a municipal “Reproductive Equity Fund,” directing $1 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan funds — federal dollars given to the state for COVID relief — toward paying travel expenses for women seeking abortions outside Missouri. The mayor of St. Louis has said she will sign the bill should it reach her desk.
More than a dozen states, including Missouri, passed “trigger law” prohibiting almost all abortions shortly after the U.S. The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision by the Supreme Court on June 24 overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the decision-making authority over abortion regulation back to the states.
Eric Schmitt, the attorney general of Missouri, announced on July 1 that he intends to sue Kansas City because the city’s proposal would amount to the use of government money for abortions, which is against state law. The Kansas City resolution says that the refund would not be paid for with taxpayer funds, but it doesn’t say where the money will come from.
“Using hard-earned taxpayer dollars, whether it be [American Rescue Plan] funds or other forms of revenue, to fund abortions is plainly illegal under Missouri law,” Schmitt said in a statement.
“St. Louis City and County, and Kansas City, and any others who attempt to authorize taxpayer-funded abortions will be met with a lawsuit from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.”
Both St. Louis and Kansas City are adjacent to states with more lenient abortion regulations than Missouri. Illinois, a state across the river from St. Louis, has recently loosened practically all abortion laws.
In Illinois, close to St. Louis, a new Planned Parenthood “megaclinic” has established itself as a regional hub for women seeking abortions. In Kansas, where abortion is permitted, voters will decide in August whether to approve a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would strike the right to the procedure from the state’s constitution.