Protesters are asking their legislators to live by the Missouri state motto: Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.
Nearly 20 advocacy groups organized a protest Wednesday that brought hundreds of people to the state Capitol in Jefferson City.
"We represent different causes, different communities and different lived experiences," said Amber Benge, co-director of Indivisible St. Louis. "What unites us is the understanding that none of us are safe if harm is allowed to move unchecked from one group to the next."
Speakers called for legislators to protect abortion rights and reinstate paid sick leave – two measures Missouri voters approved in 2024. The legislature's actions to reverse those provisions, they said, is an affront to the will of the people.
Abortion access
A ballot measure this November could replace the approved Amendment 3 with a near-blanket ban on abortions.
"Politicians knew what Missouri voted for, and then they turned around and put this abortion ban right back on the ballot," said Melana Salisbury, Abortion Action Missouri's coordinator for central parts of the state.
Ashley Jaworski, a volunteer for the group, told the crowd that an abortion after a dangerous pregnancy allowed her to have healthy children later on. That's why the right should remain enshrined in the state constitution, she said.
"I've been privileged to hear hundreds of abortion stories from other Missourians that agree, no matter our personal and nuanced views on abortion, politicians have no business interfering in personal, private family decision-making," Jaworski said.
Mandatory paid sick leave
Last session, the legislature overturned the state's mandatory paid sick leave, which voters had approved just months before.
That decision is one of the main reasons protesters from labor unions gathered Wednesday.
"We're involved in taking care of people, and we don't have sick time to be taking care of ourselves," said Shunda Whitfield Hall, a nurse represented by the Service Employees International Union. "A lot of time we go to work sick."
Richard Eiker, a fast-food worker from the Kansas City area, said paid sick leave would have relieved his stress about aging in the workforce.
"In my line of business, every day you miss means the difference between whether you make your rent or put your food on the table," said Eiker, who came on behalf of the Missouri Workers Center.
Petitions for a constitutional amendment to overturn the legislature's decision and reinstate mandatory paid sick leave have been approved by the secretary of state's office, and organizers can now gather signatures for a vote.
Tornado relief
For some protesters from St. Louis, the dispersal of relief funds to help restore the city after last May's tornado was top of mind.
"We have been partners for the city and state," said Sherry Bailey, the tornado response fellow from Action St. Louis. "But on the night of the tornado, that partnership was broken."
"The sirens, the very thing that meant to protect us, stayed silent, and because there was no warning, our neighbors were left to scramble for their lives in the dark," Bailey added.
Bailey and others from Action St. Louis said area lawmakers should use their leverage in the Capitol to push for the recovery process to go faster.
"North St. Louis has shown up for St. Louis and the state for generations," Bailey said. "It's time for the state to finally show up for north St. Louis. We can't wait any longer."
Last week, Mayor Cara Spencer acknowledged that the city has yet to spend a single dollar of the $100 million the state allocated for tornado relief, saying the money is tied up with FEMA.
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