Eric S. Schmitt, attorney general of Missouri. / Missouri Attorney General’s office.After the procedure was made illegal in Missouri in late June, local officials in the state’s two largest cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, are taking action to encourage women who wish to travel to neighboring states for abortions.
The city manager must create a plan for payment for “healthcare-related travel fees and any other impediments for healthcare not provided within the City’s bounds,” according to a resolution adopted by the Kansas City Council on June 30.
The resolution makes the vague reference that “recent restrictions have been placed to accessing complete, comprehensive reproductive healthcare in the State of Missouri,” even though it does not specifically address abortion.
The resolution also instructs the city manager to work out an enrollment window for city employees to select a healthcare plan that includes abortions in the middle of the year.
Local authorities in Missouri’s two largest cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, are encouraging women who want to go to neighboring states for abortions by taking action after the practice was deemed illegal in the state in late June.
According to a resolution passed by the Kansas City Council on June 30, the city manager must develop a strategy for paying for “healthcare-related travel expenses and any other obstacles for healthcare not delivered within the City’s borders.”
Although it doesn’t expressly mention abortion, the resolution mentions that “recent impediments have been placed to receiving complete, comprehensive reproductive healthcare in the State of Missouri.”
The resolution also directs the city manager to establish a mid-year enrollment period for city employees to choose a healthcare plan that covers abortions.
Abortions are covered by a bill under on the other side of the state.
A proposal under consideration in St. Louis would establish a municipal “Reproductive Equity Fund” and allocate $1 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan funds, which are federal funds provided to the state for COVID relief, to covering the travel costs for women seeking abortions outside Missouri.
If the measure comes across her desk, the mayor of St. Louis has declared she will sign it.
More than a dozen states, including Missouri, have “trigger laws” that effectively outlaw all abortions. These laws went into effect shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case on June 24.
Eric Schmitt, the attorney general of Missouri, announced on July 1 that he intends to sue Kansas City because the city’s proposal would amount to the use of government money for abortions, which is against state law.
The Kansas City resolution says that the refund would not be paid for with tax dollars, but it doesn’t say where the money will come from.
Schmitt stated in a statement that it was “plainly unconstitutional under Missouri law to use hard-earned taxpayer monies, whether it be [American Rescue Plan] funds or other types of revenue, to support abortions.”
“St. Louis City and County, and Kansas City, and any others who attempt to authorize taxpayer-funded abortions will be met with a lawsuit from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.”
Both St. Louis and Kansas City are adjacent to states with more lenient abortion regulations than Missouri.
Illinois, a state across the river from St. Louis, has recently loosened practically all abortion laws.
In Illinois, close to St. Louis, a new Planned Parenthood “megaclinic” has established itself as a regional hub for women seeking abortions.
In Kansas, where abortion is permitted, voters will decide in August whether to approve a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would strike the right to the procedure from the state’s founding document.