ST. LOUIS, Missouri — As the country enters a second year since the fall of abortion protections in Roe v. Wade, activists are organizing campaigns, rallies, and petition drives around reproductive rights to build political movements at the state and federal levels.
Michele Landeau, the chief operating officer at the Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois, said the string of red state restrictions on abortion procedures within the last year sent a surge of patients across state lines in search of abortion care.
"It has been like nothing we've ever seen before," Landeau said, adding that call volume has quadrupled at their facility. "We are on track to see thousands more patients this year than we did in any other year."
Landeau and other staff from the Metro East abortion clinic set up an informational tent at a pop-up abortion activism rally near Tower Grove Park in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon.
The group Pro Choice Missouri was unveiling its newly rebranded name as Abortion Action Missouri.
"In a year of hardship, we have chosen determination over despair," Executive Director Mallory Schwarz said. "On this anniversary, we are stepping boldly into our future and are proud to reintroduce ourselves as Abortion Action Missouri."
The shift to embrace bolder rhetoric signals a firmer commitment from activists who wish to normalize the procedure and reduce stigmas around it.
"I say abortion because we have to name it," St. Louis Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier (7th Ward) told the crowd. "A part of losing your rights is because they take your language from you first. So I'm so excited about that name change."
Heading into a presidential campaign year, red state Democrats see potential to regain support from women, suburban voters, and independents, who heavily favor abortion access, according to a recent NBC News poll.
"Americans overwhelmingly approve of abortion access," Board of Aldermen President Megan Green (D-St. Louis) said. "We are going to do everything in our power to protect abortion rights in the city of St. Louis."
Denise Lieberman, the Director at the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, said several pro-abortion activists showed up asking for information about how they can register to vote for the first time.
"Our state bans almost all abortions and in order to change that, we're gonna have to change our state constitution," Lieberman said.
The push to gather enough signatures to put an abortion question on the 2024 ballot is currently held up in a legal dispute as the state's Attorney General attempts to inflate the estimated cost to taxpayers if the state allows abortion again. Republicans have rejected his dubious math as faulty. Courts have rebuked his attempt to seize control of the process as "preposterous."
"When our attorney general stops acting a fool and finally puts the abortion language on the ballot, we're going to take this to the ballot and we're going to win," Green said to applause at Sunday's rally.
Meanwhile, Republicans running for federal office are debating over where to draw the line on further restricting abortion.
"Every Republican candidate for president should support a ban on abortion before 15 weeks as a minimum nationwide standard," former Vice President and 2024 presidential primary candidate Mike Pence said on Saturday.
Some Illinois Republicans, who oppose the blue state's abortion protections, say they would support an abortion ban at the federal level.
The National Right to Life Committee endorsed Congressman Mike Bost over the weekend, citing his opposition to abortion. The committee backed Bost over his likely GOP primary challenger Darren Bailey.
"Congressman Bost is proudly and consistently prolife," his campaign said. "If the Republican majority brought a bill to the House floor protecting life, he would vote for it."
The campaign did not answer questions asking whether his vote would depend on exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
Bailey's political aides have not responded to requests for comment about the endorsement.
