Rachel Sweet won two of the nation’s toughest battles against abortion. He heads home to Missouri for the third time by Reuters

Written by Gabriella Borter

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) – Rachel Sweet joined dozens of rally goers in the parking lot of union headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri on a warm Saturday in October, holding a sign that read “Yes at 3” and joining in the call-and-response chant. : “When women’s rights are attacked, what do we do? Stand up, fight!”

Sweet, 33, could have been any of the union workers, religious leaders or abortion rights campaigners who rallied to support Amendment 3, a Missouri ballot measure in the Nov. 5 election that would have enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution.

But in the two years since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade also ended federal abortion rights by 2022, a self-described “gentleman of the Midwest” who has been instrumental in advancing abortion rights in conservative states.

Seven states have put the issue of abortion to the voters on ballot measures since that decision, and abortion rights campaigns have won every vote.

Sweet, a former Planned Parenthood activist, led campaigns to defeat anti-abortion programs in two of those states – Kansas and Kentucky. She was a senior adviser to Ohio’s campaign to establish abortion rights last year, and traveled to the state after her wedding to knock on doors with her husband.

In all three states, campaigns left party politics on the issue and banned abortions as examples of government exploitation.

Sweet hopes to extend that victory in a similar fashion to his home state of Missouri and overturn the state’s strict abortion ban. The Missouri law, which went into effect the day Roe was overturned, does nothing but rape or incest and carries a 15-year prison sentence for doctors who perform abortions without medical emergencies.

If Sweet wins, it will be the first time that voters have repealed the blanket ban and restored legal abortion at fetal viability, or about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

“That’s what’s different and why the numbers are so high in this race,” said Sweet.

Anti-abortion activists are asking voters to reject the measure, even if they disagree with the ban, saying the amendment would significantly loosen Missouri’s abortion restrictions.

FOOTBALL ABORTION IN MANY COUNTRIES

At least nine other states, including electoral battlegrounds Arizona and Nevada, will also vote on abortion ballots on Nov. 5.

Democrats hope that these measures will improve the chances of Kamala Harris for president and independents and Republicans in those states. But experts say support for ballot measures doesn’t always translate to support for candidates. Voters can support independent action while supporting Republican candidates.

Republican Donald Trump carried Missouri by 15 points in the 2020 election.

Sweet said a nonpartisan ballot campaign could help independents — who make up 19.5% of Missouri voters and Republicans who make up 41.7% — by building a “consent structure” for people who oppose abortion on religious grounds to vote for the government. restrictions.

“This is about talking to voters who may feel conflicted about abortion and have strong feelings about the topic, and finding common ground with them,” Sweet said.

This campaign has mobilized doctors, religious leaders and women who have had abortions to speak in support of this amendment.

A Sept. 12-13 poll by Emerson (NYSE: ) College Polling/The Hill found 58% support among likely Missouri voters for the measure, with 30% opposed.

The same playbook helped Sweet defeat anti-abortion ballot measures by 59% in Kansas and 52% in Kentucky in 2022.

Sweet’s Midwestern roots help make her an effective ambassador, said Emily Wales, president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

A resident of Kansas City for 20 years, Sweet attends church most Sundays.

“He’s from our country. He can talk to people from Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky,” Wales said.

Sweet said she is motivated by her belief that abortion access is “a fundamental issue of women’s equality.”

This will be his first chance to vote on an abortion rights measure.

“I really want to be a mom, and I don’t know that I feel safe doing that in Missouri. It’s very personal to me,” she said.

INCREASED MONEY

With the election just two weeks away, the abortion rights campaign, called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, has a huge financial advantage. The campaign has raised more than $21.8 million, including $8.9 million from left-wing national political organizations The Fairness Project and the Sixteen-Thirty Fund, and $1 million from Democratic philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, according to campaign finance reports.

Groups opposing the amendment have raised at least $1.7 million from individual donors and mainly Christian groups in the states, campaign finance reports show. Although lagging behind in fundraising, the anti-abortion movement has deep roots in the Bible Belt state, where Missouri politicians and church leaders are urging their constituents and worshipers to reject the amendment.

Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican state senator and board member of the anti-abortion group Missouri Stands with Women, said the ballot measure’s language establishing a “right to reproductive freedom” is too broad and could extend to reproductive care and other non-existent issues. clearly stated.

Last month, Coleman and other anti-abortion advocates sued to block the measure from appearing on the Missouri ballot. The state’s highest court dismissed the case hours before the ballots were published.

“This is an extreme proposal, and it goes beyond what most people would find reasonable,” Coleman said.

Joyce Bischof, an 87-year-old retired airline worker who has a yard sign reading “Save Our Babies God Bless” at her Kansas City home, said she opposes the amendment because of her faith.

“I’m Catholic, and Catholics are very anti-abortion,” said Bischof, a registered independent.

Hunter Hawthorne, a 28-year-old freelancer who works in IT and turned to his department for abortion help, said he sees it differently.

“It seems like it’s a reasonable thing. Your body chose you. I don’t want anyone to make rules about what I can do with my body,” he said.