Thoughts on abortion from affected women | Choose

JEFFERSON CITY — This year, Americans will decide who the next president will be, and Missouri voters will decide a new governor and who represents them in the U.S. Senate.

In a normal election cycle, races like these would dominate the political landscape. But this November's election is no ordinary election, and the election could be overshadowed by Missouri's problems. A special topic is Amendment 3.

It would allow abortions in Missouri up to fetal viability, meaning when the baby could survive on its own outside the womb. The change would allow abortions beyond that point if a treating physician determines it is to protect the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.

If Amendment 3 passes statewide in November, it will repeal Missouri's current abortion ban, which only allows abortions in the case of a medical emergency. Missouri became the first state to ban abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in the summer of 2022. Since then, lawmakers at the state and federal levels have been vocal about the issue. But what do Missouri women have to say?

“Women die. I mean, that’s what it comes down to,” Lara Underwood said from her home in Jefferson City. “Not just in Missouri, but across the country, women are dying. And women have always died when we didn’t have legal access to abortion care.”

Underwood is a family and juvenile advocate. She became pregnant while attending the University of Missouri School of Law. Abortion was still legal back then, and with two years of law school left, she decided to visit Planned Parenthood in Colombia.

“It wasn’t until I got there that I realized this wasn’t a viable pregnancy anyway,” Underwood said. “And then later in life I suffered a miscarriage for the same reason. My uterus just wasn't a healthy environment at that point, but it was really important to receive that care. I was a student. I didn’t have any money.”

She said Planned Parenthood helped her get the treatment she needed. Now she's expressing concern that women can't receive the treatment she received in Missouri – treatment that allows her to be a happy mother today.

“We need to trust women to make their own health decisions… If I hadn't made the decisions I made in my abortion, I wouldn't have the beautiful, almost eight-year-old son I have now,” Underwood said. ” It just wouldn't have happened. It would have damaged my uterus. I could have died… If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to move forward and have the family that I have now.” , which every woman should have the right to.”

But not everyone in Missouri views abortion that way.

“I want to protect women,” said Kathy Forck. “So, I’m here for women’s health and safety. And of course, sometimes women’s health and safety also means they would choose their baby’s life.”

She organizes the Columbia chapter of 40 Days for Life, an organization that opposes abortion. Forck and a handful of others gathered outside Planned Parenthood in Columbia with signs urging women to choose not to have an abortion.

“I found out I was almost aborted because my parents had RH factor, and the doctor thought he would be doing my mother a favor by aborting me, but my mother was a lifelong advocate, and Here I am,” Forck said. “I now offer that same help and hope to other mothers who feel they may be in a situation where they cannot continue their pregnancy… We are here to offer help and resources no matter what happens.” Because our sign says that we care, that we can help, and that’s exactly what we mean.”

In some parts of the state, the question surrounding abortion is not just about whether it is legal, but also about whether it is accessible.

“Well, if you just search for an abortion clinic in this area without specifying it, you're just going to search for clinics like ultrasound clinics and things like that, so I had to specify another area,” said Brittany Beltz, who lives in Poplar Bluff in the southeast from Missouri.

She said she tried to get an abortion when it was still legal, but had to travel all the way to East St. Louis to find a clinic that could perform the procedure.

“So I had to basically beg a co-worker – the only other person working night shift two nights a week at the time – to let me switch shifts so I could have the following night off,” Beltz said. “So I came home, woke up my husband, and we hit the road, driving a little over three hours one way to get to the clinic.”

She said she was working at a truck stop at the time and her husband was unable to work.

“We didn’t live much better from paycheck to paycheck,” Beltz said. “It completely depleted our savings and we had to postpone paying our bills for the following month. I mean, it was hard.”

In Jefferson City, the Pregnancy Help Center tries to convince people in difficult situations to keep their babies.

“We hear that so often; they say, 'I really don't want an abortion, but I don't think I have any other choice,'” said Leslie Kerns, the executive director of the Pregnancy Help Center of Central Missouri. “So we listen to what they tell us what the problem is and then we address it. So it could be housing. Well, we can relate them to housing. Or they don’t have insurance, and again, we can.” Connect them to the resources where they can sign up for insurance. We want them to know that they are not alone and that support is available.

She said the clinic helps people from all walks of life.

“We range from teenagers to people in their 40s and we have different circumstances, different reasons, but they are very big concerns,” Kerns said. “That’s why we want to be here, to help.”

Women in our state may disagree about the politics of abortion access, but every woman KOMU 8 spoke with for this story has put concern for human life high on their list of priorities, both for the baby and also for the mother.

Missouri voters will decide the future of abortion access on November 5th.