I collected more signatures than any other volunteer in Missouri to get Amendment 3 on the ballot to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban. I left it all on the field, and I’m ready to do it again now that our legislators are refusing to respect the will of the people.

Missouri voters enshrined the right to reproductive healthcare into our Constitution in November, and anti-choice politicians immediately began working to overturn our vote. Last week, Republican state senators invoked a rarely used procedural move to cut off debate and force through a bill to ban abortion again in Missouri.

House Joint Resolution 73 (HJR 73) is designed to trick voters. The ballot summary hides from voters the fact that HJR 73 would put the abortion ban back into effect. Instead, it purports to protect the rights of rape and incest victims to have abortions when it would actually take that right away from them, and all Missourians, and replace it with an unworkable “exception” for survivors.

This effort to mislead is especially infuriating because anti-choice legislators have claimed the reason another vote is needed is that voters didn’t know what we were voting for when we passed Amendment 3. They portray Missourians as lacking understanding and fooled by out-of-state interests. 

I was there. That’s not what happened.  

I was part of a statewide grassroots effort that collected over 380,000 signatures in less than three months from every county in the state. 

When Missouri legislators first set the stage for an abortion ban in 2019, I co-founded Access MO, a non-partisan political action committee inspired by Jewish values with the mission to work for reproductive justice in Missouri. 

We worked together with the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis (NJCWSTL) and countless other Missouri organizations and individuals to pass Amendment 3. We held house parties and trained thousands of Missourians about the rights Amendment 3 would protect. We stood in the rain and snow and baked in the heat collecting signatures. We knocked on doors all over the state educating voters. We carried the one-page Amendment with us at all times so that everyone we interacted with had an opportunity to read the language and understand Amendment 3.  

The opposition pushed out endless lies. They would say anything: that Amendment 3 would protect human cloning and aid sex trafficking, for example. But they always avoided openly defending the abortion ban, preferring to make things up to label Amendment 3 as “too extreme.” 

Leading up to Election Day November 2024, I went to voting sites to show voters Amendment 3 and explain what rights would be restored were it to pass. I was horrified to see opponents of legal abortion telling lies to people in line. But I pushed my anger and disappointment aside because I value our democracy. I value freedom of speech, and I respect and am grateful to have that right.

Despite all the lies, voters got rid of the ban.

But last week every Republican state senator but one voted to reject the will of the Missouri voters and passed HJR 73. All but one Republican member of the state House voted for HJR 73 back in April. Now HJR 73 will be on the ballot.

Today, I am sad and angry that the Republicans in the Missouri legislature are determined to ignore the voters and prevent women from accessing safe, legal abortion care. They are trying to control our bodies and our lives.

As grateful as I am for the citizen-led initiative process that Missourians have used for over a century, what happened last week demonstrates that this right means little if abortion opponents continue to control our state legislature. 

That is why our work across the state and with Access MO is vital, now more than ever. We must shine a bright light on these attacks, educate Missourians about how their elected officials just voted to override their voices, and rally voters to stand up by replacing these legislators with ones who will listen to the people and protect their reproductive rights. 

We will come out of this stronger and more united. We’ve been building connections, educating voters, and engaging Missourians on abortion rights. Our local and national partners remain committed and energized to defend our constitutional rights under Amendment 3. Now is the time to invest resources into electing more pro-reproductive healthcare rights candidates in Missouri. 

We are fighting with resolve and hope. I hope you’ll join us.