EMILYs List Statement on Possible Closure of Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic
For Immediate Release
May 28, 2019
EMILYs List Statement on Possible Closure of Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the implementation of new, medically unnecessary rules by the state health department, Missouri is poised to become the first state without a health center that provides safe and legal abortion care since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. In response, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:
“Just days after passing a dangerous, unconstitutional law that would ban abortion after 8 weeks, state Republicans are doubling down on their anti-woman agenda by implementing new rules that would effectively force Missouri's final abortion clinic to close its doors to thousands of women in need of care. This move is a direct attack on the constitutional rights of Missouri women and just another tactic in the all-out assault on reproductive justice and ongoing effort to ban abortion, making it virtually inaccessible. The stakes could not be higher in 2020 and EMILYs List is committed to electing pro-choice Democratic women, in Missouri and across the country, who will fight for reproductive justice and every woman’s right to make their own choices.”
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 46,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.
