‘Freedom of generations’: Rep. Cori Bush, Missouri Dems advocate for abortion rights in KC

Rep. Cori Bush, a St. Louis Democrat, headlined a statewide tour with Missouri Democrats campaigning for abortion rights, which stopped Sunday morning at a women’s rights rally held at Mill Creek Park in Kansas City.

The event was held in conjunction with Women’s March events held in communities nationwide.

Other leaders, including Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, State Sen. Barbara Washington who represents Jackson County, and various organizers from the Reale Justice Network and the MO KAN BIPOC Reproductive Justice Coalition, called on about 60 attendees to push for abortion rights and reproductive freedom.

Abortion rights have become a major issue for Democrats in Missouri and across the nation ahead of the November election since the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court struck down constitutional protections for the procedure in June. Missouri leaders moved quickly to enact a ban, after the ruling triggered a law that prevents abortion except in medical emergencies.

In Kansas, where voters overwhelmingly refused an amendment to the state constitution that would have allowed restrictions on abortions, providers have felt the affect of neighboring states’ bans, as some struggle to meet the needs of an influx of patients crossing state lines to try to get the procedure.

‘My decision to make’

Bush spoke about an abortion that she had at 17, after a man raped her. She also previously testified about the experience before Congress in 2021.

“That was my decision to make,” Bush said at the rally. “Why are we allowing some other folk, for political reasons, to be able to take away our rights to our own bodies? Because when I think about it, nobody hopped on that table with me.”

More recently, Bush revealed in her memoir that she had a second abortion at 19, even after telling nurses on the operating table that she wasn’t ready for the procedure. Ultimately, however, she said she made the right decision getting the abortion.

Lucas thanked Kansas voters for pushing down Amendment 2, and he encouraged Missourians to improve abortion access in the state by voting for politicians that will let people decide for themselves whether or not to follow through with a pregnancy.

“We can’t just let the Supreme Court’s viewpoint win,” he said. “We can’t let Missouri conservatives win. We can’t let them control our families, our bodies, our choices. That is not the place for them.”

Reproductive justice, not just reproductive freedom

Members of Reale Justice Network and the MO KAN BIPOC Reproductive Justice Coalition emphasized the importance of reproductive justice and not just reproductive freedom.

The difference, M’Vyonne Payne said, is whether everyone has access to care.

In traditional feminist spaces that emphasize only reproductive freedom, Payne said, rights are usually prioritized for cisgender white women.

Activists like her who push for reproductive justice want abortion and other reproductive health care, like gender-affirming care for trans people, to be accessible for everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, disability, location or other identities, she said.

“Nobody is free until we’re all free,” she said.

Since Roe was overturned, Imije Ninaz, another organizer with the coalition, and Payne said new organizers have stepped up to fight for abortion rights they previously had and lost. While both appreciate more people joining the movement, they asked new leaders to hear the voices of people of color like themselves who organized for years and better understand the needs of their communities.

Ninaz, who uses x/xs pronouns, also said the coalition has done its job by gathering people from different communities to have a diverse view on what Missourians need out of reproductive justice measures. Now, x said, it’s others’ jobs to listen.

“We’ve gathered the voices,” x said. “We’ve done the work to hear what our community needs and now we are the spokespeople. We need people to listen to that and actually trust that our leadership and our expertise in our own lives is not only valid but it’s efficient.”

The coalition is also working toward a Missouri ballot initiative that would include rights to bodily autonomy, medical privacy and equitable and accessible health care, said Ninaz, who also founded The Nafasi Center for QTPOC in Kansas City.

Ninaz said the ballot initiative would also protect health care for trans people and push for housing and bail initiatives, measures that x said would allow people to “inform and self-advocate for our own best interest.”

Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, vice president of strategy and communications at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said she and Bush were together when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“In that moment, we turned to each other for comfort,” she said. “We cried together, and then we gathered outside the last abortion clinic in the state, and we protested in anger. We deserve allies like Congresswoman Bush all across this state, in every city and every county.”

Pushing for votes, pushing for change

Lee-Gilmore said abortion rights advocates need to show up to vote on Nov. 8, but also continue to push their elected officials for change.

Bush encouraged everyone to register to vote, even if they feel they can’t make a change, before Missouri’s Oct. 12 deadline. She understands what it feels like, she said, to not think a vote counts, but she said conservatives like Sen. Josh Hawley are in office because Republican voters showed up for him.

“He didn’t get there because he chose to get there,” Bush said. “He got there because people voted. People voted him in. (Gov.) Mike Parson is there this time because people voted him in. We gotta out vote them.”

She and other Democratic leaders said they fear Republicans will next try to implement bans on contraceptives like birth control and will work toward a national ban on abortion.

Whether or not they’ve been public about their political views before, Bush said now is the moment for abortion rights advocates to publicly and vocally push for reproductive freedom and justice in Missouri and across the country.

“You hold the freedom of generations in your hands,” she said.

The tour also had stops in other cities including Columbia and Gladstone. It will conclude in St. Louis Monday.