Dear Editor,
In a deal made behind closed doors, Missouri Republicans proposed new language to the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA), a must-pass Medicaid funding bill that lawmakers failed to pass this past session because of language blocking access to contraception.
The new language perpetuates disinformation and ideological propaganda about basic reproductive health care including common forms of birth control like IUDs and emergency contraception.
Anti-abortion extremist group Missouri Right to Life inaccurately calls these forms of birth control the “Abortion Drugs,” rhetoric that Sens. Paul Wieland (R-Imperial) and Bob Onder (R-Lake St Louis) tout as “pro-life,” and which was repeated in The Missouri Time’s article, “Inside the FRA reauthorization negotiations.” In the article, the reporter refers to these preventive contraceptive methods as “abortifacient drugs.” Let’s set the record straight: Emergency contraception (a.k.a. Plan B, ella, the morning-after pill) and intrauterine devices (IUDs) are common methods of birth control. They work to prevent pregnancy, not end it.
All people deserve the right to make decisions about their bodies and health care, regardless of their income level. Birth control is essential preventive health care, and 99 percent of sexually active women use a method of contraception at some point during their lives. But systemic barriers make it so not all people are able to access or afford birth control, which is why Medicaid is such a game-changer for Missourians.
Despite the fact that access to birth control is critical to bodily autonomy and economic empowerment, extremist politicians are purposefully and inaccurately conflating birth control and abortion in order to gut access to basic care. We expect this ideological propaganda from the extremists who are currently holding Missouri’s entire Medicaid program hostage in order to push their agenda, but we expect better of journalists to not just perpetuate disinformation but check the facts.
Sincerely,
Mallory Schwarz
Executive Director
NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri
Mallory Schwarz is the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri.
