'Missouri Legislators Treat Women as Second Class Citizens,' Says Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood of St. Louis representatives state Missouri legislators ignored the 700,000 Missouri women that use some form of birth control by allowing SB749—the Birth Control Refusal bill—to become law on Wednesday, Sept. 12. The organization's spokesperson said the bill puts employers and insurers in charge of women's birth control decision-making.

“The Missouri legislature, beholden to lobbyists that see an abortion in every birth control pill, has done a huge disservice to all Missouri women,” said Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

“Birth control is not just basic, preventive health care for women, it is a pocketbook issue. Without this new birth control coverage benefit, many women will now have to continue paying $15 to $50 a month on top of their premium. When you live paycheck to paycheck, that’s a lot of money!”

Planned Parenthood advocates state this evening they believe Missouri legislators passed SB749 to undermine the incredibly popular proposal requiring most health insurance plans to cover birth control as preventive care with no additional co-pays.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the bill on July 12, and it was over-ridden today.

“As a trusted health care provider to one in five women in America, Planned Parenthood sees every day how important affordable birth control is for women,” said Paula Gianino, in a Planned Parenthood response.

“We know the overwhelming majority of Americans in the country agree that women should have access to birth control, no matter where they work. Today, our legislators ignored that message and told women loud and clear ‘your decisions don’t matter’. This legislature is out of touch and does not understand—or care—about increasing the economic burden for Missouri women.”

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