Missouri sent an active delegation to the 2024 LWVUS Convention Turn Up & Turn Out in Washington, D.C. By a vote of 843-3, the convention reaffirmed the League’s commitment to fight for reproductive rights and justice and against disinformation on this issue.
“We believe current threats to reproductive rights undermine our democracy by allowing the minority to rule,” Joan Hubbard told delegates. “According to the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of Americans want abortion to be legal in most circumstances.”
Hubbard, LWVMO board member and co-president of the Metro St. Louis League, said, “This is an issue for not only members of the League of Women Voters nationwide, but this resolution is urgent in states working to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom for all women in 2024.”
Here’s the text of the approved reproductive rights resolution.
Whereas the League of Women Voters has been supporting women’s rights since 1920, adopted a position in 1983 “affirming the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices,” and resolved in 2022 that the League supports the rights of women and those who can become pregnant to self-determination related to, and including, but not limited to bodily autonomy, privacy, reproductive health, and lifestyle choice;
Whereas afterDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022 eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, rolling back nearly 50 years of legal precedent, leading to severe restrictions, with 14 states completely banning abortion, except in limited cases, and 27 states significantly restricting it to as little as six weeks into pregnancy; reproductive constitutional rights have been affirmed in six state constitutions and League members in Missouri and nine other states anticipate constitutional changes on their ballots in 2024,
Whereas restrictions on reproductive rights have extended to the ways in which miscarriages and fetal abnormalities are handled, as well as challenges to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and contraception, and the fight for reproductive freedom must be comprehensive and focus on both rights and access; including but not limited to contraception and abortion;
Whereas restrictions on reproductive rights disproportionately impact women (and others who can become pregnant), especially those in communities of color, with low incomes, with disabilities, living in rural areas, who are not citizens, and/or identify as LGBTQIA+; therefore
Be it resolved that the League of Women Voter reaffirms its commitment to fight for reproductive rights and justice, including bodily autonomy, privacy, reproductive health, and access to contraception and abortion, and against disinformation on this issue.
The League adopted a position in 1983 “affirming the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.”
The LWVMO state board endorsed the Reproductive Freedom initiative last November with dozens of members gathering thousands of signatures to get it on the November ballot. The board recently approved funding for advocacy for that ballot measure. Kay Park chairs the LWVMO Reproductive Rights Committee.
