Missouri Is Having Its Own Wendy Davis Moment

Right now, something big is brewing in Missouri.

For the last several hours I’ve been standing with Missouri women at the state capitol – and they’re just getting started. Inspired by Wendy Davis, they’re staging a 72-hour Women’s Filibuster – keeping at it for another 50 hours, staying all day and all night (and all day and all night and all day again), to show Missouri politicians they’ve had enough of them playing politics with women’s health.

The women and men speaking at The Women’s Filibuster are unstoppable. When wind challenged the technology they are using to live-stream the entire filibuster, they never stopped speaking about the dangers of the bills. When thunder, lightning, and rain rolled in yesterday evening and they had to run for cover, they continued. And when the Senate passed HB 1307 in the middle of the night just when the cold was setting in, they vowed to press on.

This session, politicians in Jefferson City have spent countless hours considering more than two dozen bills that are hostile to women’s health. One of the worst bills would extend the mandatory waiting period for a safe, legal abortion to 72 hours, creating a three-way tie between Missouri, South Dakota, and Utah for having the longest forced waiting period in the country.

The Senate passed the bill in the dark of night last night, and the House already passed a similar bill.

Women in Missouri already must receive support, counseling, and information before an abortion, and wait 24 hours after that initial visit.

This law would do nothing more than attempt to shame a woman who has already made her decision.

It’s disappointing that the Senate decided to ignore women’s voices. But that just has the women here raising them even louder.

Join us. Tell #moleg why you #StandWithMoWomen as they continue the #womensfilibuster. And watch the live-stream of The Women’s Filibuster.

Learn more about abortion legislation and other civil liberty issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.