A majority of Missourians summer clear tuesday that they want to get rid of the state’s abortion ban with the passage of Amendment 3. But if the rallies that took place across the state Thursday are any indication, the vote won’t is just the beginning.

“This is a momentous victory for women, pregnant people and patients across the state. It’s a victory for families who want politicians out of our exam rooms and out of the personal, private decisions that we have to take each day But let me tell you the work is just beginning,” Lou Hood, the local organizer for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers in southwest Missouri, said at the Springfield rally Thursday. evening.

On Wednesday, both Planned Parenthood organizations in Missouri, in addition to the ACLU of Missouri, filed a lawsuit to remedy state laws that allegedly conflict with the constitutional amendment.

These include “targeted abortion provider regulations,” or TRAP laws, which put in place facility requirements, hospital admitting privileges requirements, advice, deadlines and bans on the provision of medical abortions by telemedicine. The lawsuit calls for these laws, along with abortion bans and criminal penalties against abortion providers, to be blocked.

“When Amendment 3 goes into effect on December 5, (Planned Parenthood) will be committed to opening our doors to the first abortion patients since the Dobbs decision,” Hood said. However, abortion was severely restricted in the state before the Dobbs decision.

McKenna, a Planned Parenthood volunteer, explained that to get an abortion in 2020, she and her mother had to travel out of state. McKenna, who is a sexual assault survivor, is identified only by her first name because the News-Leader generally does not identify sexual assault survivors unless the survivor chooses to do so.

“Although abortion is federally legal in 2020, my mother and I still had to jump through many hurdles to get care,” McKenna said. “Lawmakers have intentionally made access to abortion care so complicated. Lawmakers have also imposed ridiculous requirements on abortion clinics, such as requiring ultrasounds and giving misinformation to deter or limit abortions. care to those who need it.”

Missouri’s abortion ban was put in place after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. A few minutes after the publication of the Supreme Court decision, Eric Schmitt, then attorney general, issued an opinion that activated a “trigger law,” which banned legal abortion in all situations except medical emergencies.

With former President Donald Trump set to take office in January, there are also concerns about the federal abortion ban. While Trump declared in October that he would veto a national ban on abortionit is possible that some members of Congress will make this attempt. At a news conference Wednesday announcing the lawsuit, Emily Wales, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Missourians will need to hold their state representatives accountable.

“I think more than anything, it will be time for Missourians and individuals in other states who may have crossed political lines to hold accountable national leaders who have said they believe this issue should be a decided one by the states,” Wales said, acknowledging that not everyone, in every state, will be able to do this. “Here, where Missourians have said loud and clear, ‘We want to restore abortion care; “We want people to have access to an essential service,” we need to be sure that these federal leaders follow through on what they said they would do. and leave it to the states to let people restore care where they need it. spoke.”

What do supporters and opponents of abortion rights plan next?

Hood emphasized that despite the vote and the lawsuit, the Missouri Legislature will oppose continuing the abortion ban.

Missouri Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who was part of the lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Society, published on social networks to this effect Tuesday evening.

“This won’t be the last time Missourians vote on so-called “reproductive rights,” which have been co-opted by the left to include gender transition surgeries for children without parental consent, and I will do everything what is in my power to ensure that the vote takes place”, Coleman said on X, formerly Twitter.

The Thomas More Society issued a statement Wednesday morning, saying it was “ready to help defend the rights of Missouri’s parents, women, children and babies against planned attacks by supporters of Amendment 3.”

Hood implored his supporters to act.

More: Abortion is legal again in Missouri. Here’s what people are saying about it

“We must call upon our collective power to write to our legislators, rally in court, fill the halls and offices of Jefferson City and make it clear that we will not tolerate our rights being taken away,” Hood said.

While thousands of volunteers worked over the past 10 months to pass the amendment, said Rylea Luckfield, Springfield organizer for Abortion Action Missouri, that momentum cannot be lost.

“We will continue to demonstrate our community’s support for abortion access every step of the way in implementing Amendment 3. We will continue to show up in politicians’ offices and vote them down if they are trying to take away access to abortion again. We will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure that our friends, families and loved ones can make personal health care decisions without shame. without stigma or cruel barriers,” said Luckfield. “We are unstoppable and we will not forget the power we hold when we act together.”

This article was originally published on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield advocates talk about the work needed to bring back abortion