Memo - September 29, 2023

September 29, 2023

To: Friends of the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund

From: Jamie Corley, executive director

Subject: Ongoing efforts to support women and families in Missouri

Hi all,

I’m planning to send periodic updates about the ongoing work of the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund to volunteers, supporters and community members. This memo is available on our website.

Ballot initiatives

On August 30th we introduced six initiative petitions to change the abortion law in Missouri.

Our launch was covered by local and national news and generated over $9 million in earned media coverage according to reports generated by our media tracking software.

Selected press hits:

NPR: Group submits new effort to legalize abortion in Missouri: ‘Changing this law is urgent’

Associated Press: Missouri Republican seeks exceptions to near-total abortion ban, including for rape and incest cases

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: New initiative petitions draw criticism from both sides of Missouri abortion debate

These ballot initiatives are a commonsense, rational solution to fixing the draconian, punitive abortion law that makes it dangerous to be a mom in Missouri.

As expected, established groups on both sides of this debate oppose parts of the initiatives:

Anti-abortion organizations claim the health and safety of the mother clause is an “abortion until birth” loophole. That’s an interesting road to travel. Nothing polls higher than protections for mothers (no matter how they are framed). 87% of Missourians, including 79% of Republicans, believe abortion should be legal if the mother’s life is in danger. Anti-abortion organizations are losing ground with women and quibbling with protections that protect mothers is akin to playing in political quicksand.

We want to talk about how the current law makes pregnancy dangerous and more expansive pregnancy protections are needed. This is a pro-woman and pro-family exception. Think about the mother who receives a cancer diagnosis in early pregnancy and needs to start chemotherapy but may not have access to care. “The patient's life is at risk, but it's not at an immediate risk tomorrow. However, if we don't start treatment, there could be a long-term risk in terms of survival,” American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Chief Medical Officer Julie Gralow, MD said in an interview with JAMA.

On the pro-choice side, groups have described rape and incest exemptions as a “political strategy.” Most Missourians would disagree. Other groups that have introduced abortion petitions are currently in litigation around ballot language and the fiscal note. While we disagree about what voters want to see on a ballot initiative come November, we strongly condemn politicians in Jefferson City using the ballot initiative process to play political games.

Polling

A few weeks ago, polling in MoScout confirmed something I had anticipated: More (38%) “very conservative” voters say yes to 12 weeks than they do to rape/incest exceptions (33%). 34% of Republicans say yes to rape/incest, but more of them (36%) say yes to 12 weeks. More Republicans are “not sure” about 12 weeks than they are about rape/incest.

That polling doesn't make sense; it should go in the opposite direction. Support amongst very conservative voters should decline precipitously when asked about expanding abortion access. But, these voters have been hearing 12 weeks defined as a “consensus” position by people they trust on outlets like Fox News. There seems to be an impact nationally as well. According to Gallup, 50% of conservative voters approve of abortion at 12 weeks while only 47% of Republicans do.

A year ago in the Slu/YouGov poll, only 13% of Republicans approved of abortion at 15 weeks. That means we’ve seen support amongst Republicans for ~first trimester abortion nearly triple in a year’s time. This doesn’t surprise me. I expect this trend line to continue as very conservative voters continue to hear exceptions described as “compassionate” and 12 weeks defined as “consensus.”

Research

We are printing and distributing 500 flyers across Missouri asking people to complete a survey about reproductive rights. This is part of an ongoing effort to learn about Missourians’ knowledge and understanding of the current legal landscape around abortion, sexual health, contraception and maternal health. This research will help us identify gaps in public awareness and public knowledge so that we can develop research and tools to better serve Missouri women and families.

A QR code on the flyer directs people to a survey on our website, which will be available next week.

Please stay tuned for more updates as we continue our work. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Jamie

ABOUT THE MISSOURI WOMEN AND FAMILY RESEARCH FUND

The Missouri Women and Family Research Fund (MWFRF) is a 501(c)(4) organization based in St. Louis that’s dedicated to researching and advocating for the restoration of women's healthcare in Missouri. We work to protect the welfare of our community by educating women and the public about Missouri’s abortion law and ensuring reproductive health becomes a priority in our State. We support ballot initiatives that protect access to abortion, protect contraception and ensure women and doctors are not prosecuted for abortion care.    

All nonprofits and advocacy organizations file end-of-year 990 forms, which reports expenses like salaries and gross revenue. Individual donations are anonymous. Please note that your gift to the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization, is not deductible for federal income tax purposes as a charitable contribution.

Missouri Women and Family Research Fund

PO Box 300086

St. Louis, MO 63130