Abortion Action Missouri Foundation

In 2023, Pro-Choice Missouri Foundation completed our two-year long rebrand process to become Abortion Action Missouri Foundation, a name and brand built by Missourians, for Missourians. Over the past 10 years, Abortion Action Missouri Foundation (AAMF)has advocated about matters regarding contraceptive access, access to emergency contraception in emergency rooms, access to Title X family planning services, the harm of anti-abortion fake clinics - AKA crisis pregnancy centers, the landscape of sex eduction in Missouri, and a host of other topics related to reproductive health and rights. In 2023, the organization continued to expand while meeting the growing needs caused by the tumultuous nationwide climate for abortion rights. With the fall of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Missouri became the first state to implement a near-total abortion ban. Abortion Action Missouri Foundation played a critical role in activating a statewide base of more than 50,000 members to rally against this ban and take critical steps towards building a new path forward. . Abortion Action Missouri Foundation had a thriving field team in 2023 who were an instrumental part of our deep canvass program, the Abortion Conversation Project, speaking to thousands of supporters about what the fall of Roe means to them, and why abortion access is a critical part of the fight for our fundamental rights. The organization helped to organize media campaigns and wrote op-ed pieces and editorials in support of every individuals right to decide if, when, and how, and with whom to start or grow their family, and provided briefing papers to the lawmakers, community leaders, stakeholders, and the public. In conjunction with the local and national partners, the organization hosted three Fellows to conduct a review of policies at the local level in three municipalities across the state, and a cohort of highschool fellows as part of our Students at the Front program to grow students civic engagement and understanding of advocacy and organizing work. Abortion Action Missouri Foundation also worked in close partnership with labor partners to advance an effort to increase the Missouri minimum wage and guarantee earned sick leave for workers, as part of our intersectional approach and understanding that abortion access is tied to the economic stability of individuals, families, and communities. . For almost 40 years, the organization has provided trained clinic escorts at two local medical clinics. These volunteers act as a physical barrier between patients and hostile anti-abortion protesters at clinics that provide reproductive health care, including abortion. In 2023, AAMFs signature clinic escort program held 12 trainings and had 304 active clinic escorts on its rosters. . The organization is committed to being an anti-racist organization supporting and lifting up the voices of all those most disproportionately impacted by the dangerous abortion ban now in place. With more than two dozen organizational allies, all working for the health and safety of Missouri women and families, we sought to protect individual rights and the rights of families, worked with faith-community allies, and organized against anti-abortion attacks.