On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with Dr. Will Parker about prostate cancer.

<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tAd08G_LhAQ?si=ITpgQzlSamNnX43N" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with Dr. Will Parker about prostate cancer.

🎤 Foward Ever: Dr. Will Parker on prostate cancer

NODAWAY COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 1:30p.m. Wednesday in Nodaway County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Ram 1500 driven by a 23-year-old Maryville man was southbound on MO 148 three miles south of Pickering.&nbsp;

The driver fell asleep. The pickup traveled off the east side of the road, struck a mailbox, returned to the road, traveled off the west side of the road, struck and embankment, became airborne and came to rest facing eastbound.

A private vehicle transported the driver to Mosaic in Maryville. He was properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

NODAWAY COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 1:30p.m. Wednesday in Nodaway County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Ram 1500 driven by a 23-year-old Maryville man was southbound on MO 148 three miles south of Pickering.&nbsp;The driver fell asleep. The pickup traveled off the east side of the road, struck a mailbox, returned to the road, traveled off the west side of the road, struck and embankment, became airborne and came to rest facing eastbound.A private vehicle transported the driver to Mosaic in Maryville. He was properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Mo. driver fell asleep before violent pickup accident

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/cbates/">CLARA BATES</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missourians receiving federal food assistance for low-income women and children will face fewer administrative hurdles to get benefits after the state this month modernized its system.

The Women, Infants and Children Program, known as WIC, for years required participants to&nbsp;physically visit an office to have their benefits loaded onto their cards — a requirement that sometimes hindered eligible Missourians from getting the food benefits at all.

But as of this month, the Department of Health and Senior Services has completed updates to allow participants to receive benefits remotely — transitioning to a system that has long been operated in nearly every other state.&nbsp;

WIC is a federal program providing supplemental food, nutrition education and referrals to health care to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children up to age 5 who are determined to be at nutritional risk.&nbsp;

The new WIC card technology in Missouri in effect as of May 1 “will improve the participants’ benefit issuance and redemption experience,” said Lisa Cox, spokesperson for Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which operates the program. “So we anticipate that participants may remain enrolled in WIC for a longer time, which could increase participation.”

Missouri’s rate of WIC participation has long been below the national average, though it’s&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/01/08/childrens-nutrition-program-revved-up-in-the-pandemic-faces-severe-cuts/" target="_blank">improved in recent years</a>. Some attributed Missouri’s administratively-challenging system to the low rate,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">especially during COVID,</a>&nbsp;when the state had to continue requiring in-person issuance.

In 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/trends-in-wic-coverage-and-participation-0#Missouri" target="_blank">only 41% of eligible Missourians</a>&nbsp;were enrolled in WIC, and the national average was 54%. As of April, Cox said, there were 95,401 Missourians participating in WIC.&nbsp;

As of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">2022,</a>&nbsp;Missouri was one of just nine states which used a WIC system that required participants to bring their benefits cards to the local agency office when loading benefits — what’s called&nbsp; an “offline” system for reloading benefits.

Participants on the offline system dealt with transportation and socioeconomic barriers to accessing in-person benefits.\

“I have to request off work just to come load the card,”&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">one mother told The Independent.</a>

The modernization effort in effect this month allows the state to operate an “online” system capable of remotely and automatically reloading benefits.

Cox&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">previously said</a>&nbsp;the reason Missouri elected to operate an offline system was based on an analysis conducted roughly a decade ago.

In 2020, “it became apparent that an online system would be more user friendly,” Cox previously said, but “Missouri WIC was unable to change that decision mid-implementation.”

There are other advantages to the modernization, Cox said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MODHSS/bulletins/3deaf00" target="_blank">press release,</a>&nbsp;designed to make it easier for participants to track their benefits and for retailers to receive their reimbursement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747312488833.png" alt=" Bread at the Schnuck’s grocery story in Columbia marked as permitted to be purchased through Missouri’s WIC program, which provides supplemental foods, nutrition education and referrals to health care, at no cost, to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are determined to be at nutritional risk (Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Bread at the Schnuck’s grocery story in Columbia marked as permitted to be purchased through Missouri’s WIC program, which provides supplemental foods, nutrition education and referrals to health care, at no cost, to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are determined to be at nutritional risk (Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/cbates/">CLARA BATES</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>Missourians receiving federal food assistance for low-income women and children will face fewer administrative hurdles to get benefits after the state this month modernized its system.The Women, Infants and Children Program, known as WIC, for years required participants to&nbsp;physically visit an office to have their benefits loaded onto their cards — a requirement that sometimes hindered eligible Missourians from getting the food benefits at all.But as of this month, the Department of Health and Senior Services has completed updates to allow participants to receive benefits remotely — transitioning to a system that has long been operated in nearly every other state.&nbsp;WIC is a federal program providing supplemental food, nutrition education and referrals to health care to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children up to age 5 who are determined to be at nutritional risk.&nbsp;The new WIC card technology in Missouri in effect as of May 1 “will improve the participants’ benefit issuance and redemption experience,” said Lisa Cox, spokesperson for Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which operates the program. “So we anticipate that participants may remain enrolled in WIC for a longer time, which could increase participation.”Missouri’s rate of WIC participation has long been below the national average, though it’s&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/01/08/childrens-nutrition-program-revved-up-in-the-pandemic-faces-severe-cuts/" target="_blank">improved in recent years</a>. Some attributed Missouri’s administratively-challenging system to the low rate,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">especially during COVID,</a>&nbsp;when the state had to continue requiring in-person issuance.In 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/trends-in-wic-coverage-and-participation-0#Missouri" target="_blank">only 41% of eligible Missourians</a>&nbsp;were enrolled in WIC, and the national average was 54%. As of April, Cox said, there were 95,401 Missourians participating in WIC.&nbsp;As of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">2022,</a>&nbsp;Missouri was one of just nine states which used a WIC system that required participants to bring their benefits cards to the local agency office when loading benefits — what’s called&nbsp; an “offline” system for reloading benefits.Participants on the offline system dealt with transportation and socioeconomic barriers to accessing in-person benefits.\“I have to request off work just to come load the card,”&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">one mother told The Independent.</a>The modernization effort in effect this month allows the state to operate an “online” system capable of remotely and automatically reloading benefits.Cox&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/10/10/missouri-participation-in-public-benefits-program-wic-fell-sharply-during-pandemic/">previously said</a>&nbsp;the reason Missouri elected to operate an offline system was based on an analysis conducted roughly a decade ago.In 2020, “it became apparent that an online system would be more user friendly,” Cox previously said, but “Missouri WIC was unable to change that decision mid-implementation.”There are other advantages to the modernization, Cox said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MODHSS/bulletins/3deaf00" target="_blank">press release,</a>&nbsp;designed to make it easier for participants to track their benefits and for retailers to receive their reimbursement.

Missouri upgrades system for public benefits program WIC to allow remote benefits loading

Democrats pledged that the motion to end debate, unused since 2020, will mean confrontation and the end of cooperation

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/cbates/">CLARA BATES</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missouri Senate Republicans invoked a rarely used rule Wednesday to shut down a Democratic filibuster blocking a vote on a measure overturning the abortion rights amendment&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missouri-voters-overturn-states-near-total-abortion-ban/">passed by voters in November</a>.

That action was immediately followed by another use of the rule, this time to get a bill passed repealing the paid sick leave law that was also&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missourians-vote-to-increase-minimum-wage-require-paid-sick-leave/">approved by voters.</a>

The use of the rule — a procedural maneuver known as “calling the previous question,” or PQ — requires a signed motion from 10 members and forces an immediate vote on the bill under debate.

Sen. Adam Schnelting, a Republican from St. Charles, made the motion for a PQ on the abortion amendment shortly after 5 p.m. By 5:30 p.m., that bill, which must be approved by voters on a statewide ballot, had passed.

The sick leave repeal followed, and by 6 p.m. both bills were finished.

In the hour leading up to the vote, Democrats warned that Republicans were destroying months of good will and could expect no more cooperation this year and well into the future.

“Nothing will happen, nothing,” said Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck. “The banner year that everybody had in this place? That is over with.”

Wednesday’s use of the previous question rule is the first time since 2020 when it was invoked and the first time since 2017 when it was used during a regular session. Used regularly in the Missouri House, it is used rarely in the Senate because the chamber has a tradition of unlimited debate and negotiations over difficult issues.

“What we’re doing today is a failure of the Senate,” said state Sen. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia. “And when there’s a failure in the Senate, there needs to be a response, and that response can’t last forever, but that response has to happen, and it has to be painful, and has to make us all understand that when the Senate doesn’t function as a body, we all lose.”

Just as Republicans were moving to put an abortion ban on the ballot, protests erupted in the Senate gallery, with abortion-rights activists shouting down lawmakers. The gallery was briefly cleared, including the press, and the Senate continued with its work until it adjourned for the year a few hours later.

State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican, said using the PQ is always a last resort. But it was his understanding that “goal posts were being moved” in negotiations by Democrats.&nbsp;

“I don’t know what transpired, but I do know that we hit a log jam,” he said, leaving the PQ as the only way forward to pass the sick leave repeal and abortion ban.&nbsp;

The proposed ban seeks to repeal the constitutional right to an abortion but allow exceptions for medical emergencies, fatal fetal anomalies and for survivors of rape and incest in the first 12 weeks of gestation.&nbsp;

Missourians could see the question on the November 2026 ballot, or as soon as this year if the governor chose to call a special election on the issue.&nbsp;

The proposed ban, if approved by a simple majority of voters, would&nbsp;reinstate several targeted regulations on abortion providers, or TRAP laws, that were recently&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/02/14/missouri-judge-blocks-discriminatory-abortion-clinics-rules-blamed-for-lack-of-access/">struck down as unconstitutional</a>&nbsp;by a Missouri judge.&nbsp;

It would also ban gender transition surgeries and prescribing medications for gender transition, including puberty blockers, for children younger than 18.

The amendment also includes a severability clause. This could allow the rape and incest exceptions in the amendment to be challenged in federal court as being discriminatory and in violation of the 14th Amendment.&nbsp;

If approved, the amendment would also require any legal challenges to the state law around reproductive health care be heard in Cole County. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office was recently unsuccessful in convincing the courts to move an ongoing legal battle between the state and Planned Parenthood from Jackson County to Cole County.

The language that could appear on each ballot does not mention the amendment would ban abortions, a detail that’s been highly-criticized by Democrats as deceiving.&nbsp;

Democrats have also accused Republicans of including the ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which is already illegal in Missouri, as a form of “ballot candy” — a ruse aimed at tricking voters to support a measure they might otherwise vote against.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Schroer said removal of the transgender health care provisions was a deal breaker for conservative senators.&nbsp;

“We talked to a lot of our members,” he said, “and they said that issue needs to be included.”&nbsp;

Amendment 3 narrowly passed in November following a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/29/spending-on-missouri-ballot-measures-nears-100-million-as-campaign-enters-final-week/">multi-million dollar campaign</a>&nbsp;by abortion-rights advocates. A day later, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri sued the state, challenging several of Missouri’s laws focused on abortion facilities and providers.

An amendment to alter the language so it directly states that it is repealing Amendment 3 was defeated just before the motion to cut off debate.

While many sitting Republicans have previously opposed abortion exceptions outside of those to save the mother’s life, many said the November election showed Missourians’ desire for a less stringent law.

<a href="https://www.slu.edu/research/research-institute/big-ideas/slu-poll/data-archive/august-2022-poll/-pdf/slu-poll-august-2022-crosstabs.pdf" target="_blank">Missourians overwhelmingly support abortion exceptions for survivors,&nbsp;</a>an August 2022 SLU/YouGov poll found. The polling was done several weeks after Missouri became the first state to enact a full abortion ban following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Since Amendment 3 took effect, surgical abortions are being performed but medication abortions have not.

Three of the state’s several Planned Parenthood clinics have restarted surgical abortions for those up to 12 weeks gestation at clinics in Kansas City,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/04/abortion-returns-columbia-missouri-planned-parenthood-clinic/">Columbia</a>&nbsp;and St. Louis.&nbsp;

The clinics were authorized to begin the procedure again for the first time in nearly three years after a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/02/14/missouri-judge-blocks-discriminatory-abortion-clinics-rules-blamed-for-lack-of-access/">judge struck down many of the state’s abortion regulations,</a>&nbsp;citing them as discriminatory.

Medication abortion — the most common means of ending a pregnancy —&nbsp;remains inaccessible in Missouri after<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/31/missouri-abortion-ban-constitutional-amendment-rape-incest/">&nbsp;the state health department rejected complication plans&nbsp;</a>submitted by the clinics outlining continued care for patients in the case they had any adverse effects from the medication.&nbsp;

If the bill is signed by the governor, the paid-sick leave benefits approved by voters that went&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/01/missouri-paid-sick-leave-law-now-in-effect-though-legislative-challenges-still-loom/">into effect on May 1</a>&nbsp;will be stripped away on Aug. 28.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;<a href="https://house.mo.gov/bill.aspx?bill=HB567&amp;year=2025&amp;code=R" target="_blank">bill</a>&nbsp;also removes the requirement that the minimum wage be indexed to inflation, which has been in place since 2007

The paid sick leave and minimum wage provisions passed with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missourians-vote-to-increase-minimum-wage-require-paid-sick-leave/">58% of the vote in November</a>&nbsp;as Proposition A, garnering support from unions, workers’ advocacy groups, social justice and civil rights groups, as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/statement/Missouri2024" target="_blank">over 500 business owners.&nbsp;</a>

“Workers are earning paid sick leave right now,” said state Sen. Patty Lewis, a Democrat from Kansas City, “and then it’s going to get taken away and they’re going to be fired up about it.”

GOP critics have&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/26/missouri-bill-to-overturn-voter-approved-paid-sick-leave-clears-senate-committee/">portrayed paid sick leave as a “job killer”</a>&nbsp;that would hurt small businesses. The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a Republican from Jefferson City, and Republican state Rep. Sherri Gallick of Belton.&nbsp;

Senate Democrats have been in negotiations with Republicans over the last month to modify the bill, in what they’ve said is an effort to maintain the will of the voters in expanding paid sick leave rather than gut it entirely, as well as make it easier for businesses to comply.

State Sen. Tracy McCreery, an Olivette Democrat, said senators have “worked tirelessly to figure out some kind of compromise.”&nbsp;

The Democrats spent two nights blocking a vote on the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/04/17/missouri-democrats-filibuster-gop-effort-to-overturn-voter-approved-paid-sick-leave/">paid sick leave repeal earlier in the session</a>.

Under Proposition A, employers with business receipts greater than $500,000 a year must provide at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than 15 workers must allow workers to earn at least 40 hours per year, with larger employers mandated to allow at least 56 hours.

The measure made sick leave guaranteed for 728,000 workers who lacked it statewide, or over 1 in 3 Missouri workers, according to an analysis from the progressive nonprofit the Missouri Budget Project.&nbsp;

Richard Von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs with Justice, the organization that helped lead the campaign for Proposition A, said it’s a slap in the face to voters that will create “disgruntled employees” and cause “chaos” for businesses.

“Proposition A was passed so overwhelmingly, with so much support from Republican voters, it seemed that it would be so controversial in the legislature that Republican politicians would be more hesitant than they apparently are,” he said, “to overturn the will of their own voters, and cause them economic pain.”

The message lawmakers are sending is: “They don’t believe that you deserve economic security,” he added.&nbsp;

It could also cause backlash for the lawmakers from districts who supported the measure, he said.&nbsp;

“We’re going to make sure that workers don’t experience this as something that just happens to us without understanding these are decisions made by people, and workers have the ability to hold people accountable for those decisions,” he said.

Von Glahn said it’s not the end of the fight for paid sick leave, and advocates will consider putting it on the ballot again as a constitutional amendment, a move that would make it much harder for lawmakers to repeal.&nbsp;

“I’m confident,” he said, “this is a policy that Missourians want and we’re going to continue to fight for that through every means necessary.”&nbsp;

The debate Wednesday afternoon began about 12:30 p.m. and Democrats held the floor for much of the time. But near the start of the debate, state Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, aired his grievances with the leadership of Missouri Right to LIfe.

Cierpiot accused the organization, one of the most visible anti-abortion groups in the state, of focusing more on enforcing purity of thought and maintaining its influence within the GOP than writing laws acceptable to most Missourians.

Amendment 3 reinstated abortion rights lost in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. If Missouri Right to Life’s leaders had not demanded a ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, he said, Amendment 3 might have been defeated.

“Their leadership, Ms. (Susan) Klein, and Mr. (Dave) Plemmons and Mr. (Steve) Rupp have been much more interested in causing Republican brush fires over issues with much smaller or no impact on the huge effort for life,” Cierpiot said.&nbsp;

The problems with Missouri Right to Life was evident in the 2024 elections when it made single-candidate endorsements, freezing out candidates who had been ardent anti-abortion legislators. The organization endorsed then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in the Republican primary for governor, then refused to endorse Republican nominee Mike Kehoe for the general election.

Other Republicans who won without the endorsement of Missouri Right to Life joined in the criticism. State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, said the law triggered by the 2022 abortion decision was negotiated in spite of Missouri Right to Life, not with its help.

“I don’t know that I really care, frankly, that they didn’t endorse me,” Coleman said. “What I do care about is that they didn’t endorse Gov. Kehoe in the primary, and they didn’t endorse him in the general.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747267006529.png" alt=" Jaeda Roth and other protestors from Abortion Access Missouri unfurl “Stop the Ban” banners as the Missouri Senate passes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban abortion (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Jaeda Roth and other protestors from Abortion Access Missouri unfurl “Stop the Ban” banners as the Missouri Senate passes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban abortion (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Democrats pledged that the motion to end debate, unused since 2020, will mean confrontation and the end of cooperation</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/cbates/">CLARA BATES</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Missouri Senate Republicans invoked a rarely used rule Wednesday to shut down a Democratic filibuster blocking a vote on a measure overturning the abortion rights amendment&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missouri-voters-overturn-states-near-total-abortion-ban/">passed by voters in November</a>.That action was immediately followed by another use of the rule, this time to get a bill passed repealing the paid sick leave law that was also&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missourians-vote-to-increase-minimum-wage-require-paid-sick-leave/">approved by voters.</a>The use of the rule — a procedural maneuver known as “calling the previous question,” or PQ — requires a signed motion from 10 members and forces an immediate vote on the bill under debate.Sen. Adam Schnelting, a Republican from St. Charles, made the motion for a PQ on the abortion amendment shortly after 5 p.m. By 5:30 p.m., that bill, which must be approved by voters on a statewide ballot, had passed.The sick leave repeal followed, and by 6 p.m. both bills were finished.In the hour leading up to the vote, Democrats warned that Republicans were destroying months of good will and could expect no more cooperation this year and well into the future.“Nothing will happen, nothing,” said Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck. “The banner year that everybody had in this place? That is over with.”Wednesday’s use of the previous question rule is the first time since 2020 when it was invoked and the first time since 2017 when it was used during a regular session. Used regularly in the Missouri House, it is used rarely in the Senate because the chamber has a tradition of unlimited debate and negotiations over difficult issues.“What we’re doing today is a failure of the Senate,” said state Sen. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia. “And when there’s a failure in the Senate, there needs to be a response, and that response can’t last forever, but that response has to happen, and it has to be painful, and has to make us all understand that when the Senate doesn’t function as a body, we all lose.”Just as Republicans were moving to put an abortion ban on the ballot, protests erupted in the Senate gallery, with abortion-rights activists shouting down lawmakers. The gallery was briefly cleared, including the press, and the Senate continued with its work until it adjourned for the year a few hours later.State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican, said using the PQ is always a last resort. But it was his understanding that “goal posts were being moved” in negotiations by Democrats.&nbsp;“I don’t know what transpired, but I do know that we hit a log jam,” he said, leaving the PQ as the only way forward to pass the sick leave repeal and abortion ban.&nbsp;<h2>Abortion ban</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747266967562.png" alt=" Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck speaks about negotiations on a bill that seeks to establish a constitutional amendment to ban abortion (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck speaks about negotiations on a bill that seeks to establish a constitutional amendment to ban abortion (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>The proposed ban seeks to repeal the constitutional right to an abortion but allow exceptions for medical emergencies, fatal fetal anomalies and for survivors of rape and incest in the first 12 weeks of gestation.&nbsp;Missourians could see the question on the November 2026 ballot, or as soon as this year if the governor chose to call a special election on the issue.&nbsp;The proposed ban, if approved by a simple majority of voters, would&nbsp;reinstate several targeted regulations on abortion providers, or TRAP laws, that were recently&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/02/14/missouri-judge-blocks-discriminatory-abortion-clinics-rules-blamed-for-lack-of-access/">struck down as unconstitutional</a>&nbsp;by a Missouri judge.&nbsp;It would also ban gender transition surgeries and prescribing medications for gender transition, including puberty blockers, for children younger than 18.The amendment also includes a severability clause. This could allow the rape and incest exceptions in the amendment to be challenged in federal court as being discriminatory and in violation of the 14th Amendment.&nbsp;If approved, the amendment would also require any legal challenges to the state law around reproductive health care be heard in Cole County. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office was recently unsuccessful in convincing the courts to move an ongoing legal battle between the state and Planned Parenthood from Jackson County to Cole County.The language that could appear on each ballot does not mention the amendment would ban abortions, a detail that’s been highly-criticized by Democrats as deceiving.&nbsp;Democrats have also accused Republicans of including the ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which is already illegal in Missouri, as a form of “ballot candy” — a ruse aimed at tricking voters to support a measure they might otherwise vote against.&nbsp;&nbsp;Schroer said removal of the transgender health care provisions was a deal breaker for conservative senators.&nbsp;“We talked to a lot of our members,” he said, “and they said that issue needs to be included.”&nbsp;Amendment 3 narrowly passed in November following a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/29/spending-on-missouri-ballot-measures-nears-100-million-as-campaign-enters-final-week/">multi-million dollar campaign</a>&nbsp;by abortion-rights advocates. A day later, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri sued the state, challenging several of Missouri’s laws focused on abortion facilities and providers.An amendment to alter the language so it directly states that it is repealing Amendment 3 was defeated just before the motion to cut off debate.While many sitting Republicans have previously opposed abortion exceptions outside of those to save the mother’s life, many said the November election showed Missourians’ desire for a less stringent law.<a href="https://www.slu.edu/research/research-institute/big-ideas/slu-poll/data-archive/august-2022-poll/-pdf/slu-poll-august-2022-crosstabs.pdf" target="_blank">Missourians overwhelmingly support abortion exceptions for survivors,&nbsp;</a>an August 2022 SLU/YouGov poll found. The polling was done several weeks after Missouri became the first state to enact a full abortion ban following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.Since Amendment 3 took effect, surgical abortions are being performed but medication abortions have not.Three of the state’s several Planned Parenthood clinics have restarted surgical abortions for those up to 12 weeks gestation at clinics in Kansas City,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/04/abortion-returns-columbia-missouri-planned-parenthood-clinic/">Columbia</a>&nbsp;and St. Louis.&nbsp;The clinics were authorized to begin the procedure again for the first time in nearly three years after a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/02/14/missouri-judge-blocks-discriminatory-abortion-clinics-rules-blamed-for-lack-of-access/">judge struck down many of the state’s abortion regulations,</a>&nbsp;citing them as discriminatory.Medication abortion — the most common means of ending a pregnancy —&nbsp;remains inaccessible in Missouri after<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/31/missouri-abortion-ban-constitutional-amendment-rape-incest/">&nbsp;the state health department rejected complication plans&nbsp;</a>submitted by the clinics outlining continued care for patients in the case they had any adverse effects from the medication.&nbsp;<h2>Sick leave law</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747266935012.png" alt=" State Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, prepares for Senate Republicans to force a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban abortion (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> State Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, prepares for Senate Republicans to force a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban abortion (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>If the bill is signed by the governor, the paid-sick leave benefits approved by voters that went&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/01/missouri-paid-sick-leave-law-now-in-effect-though-legislative-challenges-still-loom/">into effect on May 1</a>&nbsp;will be stripped away on Aug. 28.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://house.mo.gov/bill.aspx?bill=HB567&amp;year=2025&amp;code=R" target="_blank">bill</a>&nbsp;also removes the requirement that the minimum wage be indexed to inflation, which has been in place since 2007The paid sick leave and minimum wage provisions passed with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missourians-vote-to-increase-minimum-wage-require-paid-sick-leave/">58% of the vote in November</a>&nbsp;as Proposition A, garnering support from unions, workers’ advocacy groups, social justice and civil rights groups, as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/statement/Missouri2024" target="_blank">over 500 business owners.&nbsp;</a>“Workers are earning paid sick leave right now,” said state Sen. Patty Lewis, a Democrat from Kansas City, “and then it’s going to get taken away and they’re going to be fired up about it.”GOP critics have&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/26/missouri-bill-to-overturn-voter-approved-paid-sick-leave-clears-senate-committee/">portrayed paid sick leave as a “job killer”</a>&nbsp;that would hurt small businesses. The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a Republican from Jefferson City, and Republican state Rep. Sherri Gallick of Belton.&nbsp;Senate Democrats have been in negotiations with Republicans over the last month to modify the bill, in what they’ve said is an effort to maintain the will of the voters in expanding paid sick leave rather than gut it entirely, as well as make it easier for businesses to comply.State Sen. Tracy McCreery, an Olivette Democrat, said senators have “worked tirelessly to figure out some kind of compromise.”&nbsp;The Democrats spent two nights blocking a vote on the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/04/17/missouri-democrats-filibuster-gop-effort-to-overturn-voter-approved-paid-sick-leave/">paid sick leave repeal earlier in the session</a>.Under Proposition A, employers with business receipts greater than $500,000 a year must provide at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than 15 workers must allow workers to earn at least 40 hours per year, with larger employers mandated to allow at least 56 hours.The measure made sick leave guaranteed for 728,000 workers who lacked it statewide, or over 1 in 3 Missouri workers, according to an analysis from the progressive nonprofit the Missouri Budget Project.&nbsp;Richard Von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs with Justice, the organization that helped lead the campaign for Proposition A, said it’s a slap in the face to voters that will create “disgruntled employees” and cause “chaos” for businesses.“Proposition A was passed so overwhelmingly, with so much support from Republican voters, it seemed that it would be so controversial in the legislature that Republican politicians would be more hesitant than they apparently are,” he said, “to overturn the will of their own voters, and cause them economic pain.”The message lawmakers are sending is: “They don’t believe that you deserve economic security,” he added.&nbsp;It could also cause backlash for the lawmakers from districts who supported the measure, he said.&nbsp;“We’re going to make sure that workers don’t experience this as something that just happens to us without understanding these are decisions made by people, and workers have the ability to hold people accountable for those decisions,” he said.Von Glahn said it’s not the end of the fight for paid sick leave, and advocates will consider putting it on the ballot again as a constitutional amendment, a move that would make it much harder for lawmakers to repeal.&nbsp;“I’m confident,” he said, “this is a policy that Missourians want and we’re going to continue to fight for that through every means necessary.”&nbsp;<h2>Republican fractures&nbsp;</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747266893046.png" alt=" Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Senate floor on Feb. 10, 2021 (screenshot courtesy of Senate Communications)." />
 <figcaption> Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Senate floor on Feb. 10, 2021 (screenshot courtesy of Senate Communications).</figcaption>
 </figure>The debate Wednesday afternoon began about 12:30 p.m. and Democrats held the floor for much of the time. But near the start of the debate, state Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, aired his grievances with the leadership of Missouri Right to LIfe.Cierpiot accused the organization, one of the most visible anti-abortion groups in the state, of focusing more on enforcing purity of thought and maintaining its influence within the GOP than writing laws acceptable to most Missourians.Amendment 3 reinstated abortion rights lost in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. If Missouri Right to Life’s leaders had not demanded a ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, he said, Amendment 3 might have been defeated.“Their leadership, Ms. (Susan) Klein, and Mr. (Dave) Plemmons and Mr. (Steve) Rupp have been much more interested in causing Republican brush fires over issues with much smaller or no impact on the huge effort for life,” Cierpiot said.&nbsp;The problems with Missouri Right to Life was evident in the 2024 elections when it made single-candidate endorsements, freezing out candidates who had been ardent anti-abortion legislators. The organization endorsed then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in the Republican primary for governor, then refused to endorse Republican nominee Mike Kehoe for the general election.Other Republicans who won without the endorsement of Missouri Right to Life joined in the criticism. State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, said the law triggered by the 2022 abortion decision was negotiated in spite of Missouri Right to Life, not with its help.“I don’t know that I really care, frankly, that they didn’t endorse me,” Coleman said. “What I do care about is that they didn’t endorse Gov. Kehoe in the primary, and they didn’t endorse him in the general.”

Missouri Republicans shut down Senate debate to pass abortion ban, repeal sick leave law

&nbsp;BY:&nbsp;ANNELISE HANSHAW <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>

A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/25info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=422" target="_blank">bill</a>&nbsp;passed by the state legislature Tuesday and on its way to the governor will require school districts to create a policy banning cell phone usage throughout the school day, including during breaks between classes and at lunch.

A majority of U.S. adults support cell phone bans during class time, or 68%&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/14/most-americans-back-cellphone-bans-during-class-but-fewer-support-all-day-restrictions/" target="_blank">as recorded in a Pew Research Center poll</a>. But restricting mobile phone use for the entire school day is less popular, with 36% in support.

State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, filed the cell-phone-ban legislation with restrictions only during instructional time. She&nbsp;wanted to give school boards and charter schools the ability to decide whether or not to place further limitations on cell phones, she told The Independent.

Lawmakers decided to pursue the more restrictive policy, and Steinhoff believes students will see benefits academically and socially.

“The statistics really do hold that if we do the (full day), bell to bell, that’s going to have the biggest turnaround,” she said.

According to&nbsp;<a href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/2_19_2025.asp" target="_blank">the National Center for Education Statistics</a>, roughly 53% of school leaders believe that cell-phone usage has hurt students’ learning abilities. And 72% say it has negatively impacted mental health.

Many school districts have chosen to enact bans, and states around the country have been increasingly writing bans into law with restrictions passed in at least nine states and 10 states testing the policy in a pilot program since 2023.

Missouri’s full-day ban would be one of the more restrictive laws, but there are exceptions.

Students who need a mobile device to accommodate a disability are exempted, and cell phones would be allowed if there is a safety emergency at school.

The legislation also gives school districts and charter schools the ability to decide if teachers may allow students to use cell phones during class.

The bill does not require phones to be locked up. School boards will have to decide whether devices will be stowed in designated areas or allowed in students’ backpacks.

Districts will have to enact a policy during the 2025-2026 school year.

The legislation is part of a sweeping education package negotiated in the final weeks of the legislative session.

It began as a three-page bill prescribing reporting requirements for school safety incidents. Now, at 138 pages, it contains bipartisan legislation, with multiple provisions aimed at school safety.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747217604807.png" alt=" State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, speaks March 5 in the Missouri House (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)." />
 <figcaption> State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, speaks March 5 in the Missouri House (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;BY:&nbsp;ANNELISE HANSHAW <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/25info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=422" target="_blank">bill</a>&nbsp;passed by the state legislature Tuesday and on its way to the governor will require school districts to create a policy banning cell phone usage throughout the school day, including during breaks between classes and at lunch.A majority of U.S. adults support cell phone bans during class time, or 68%&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/14/most-americans-back-cellphone-bans-during-class-but-fewer-support-all-day-restrictions/" target="_blank">as recorded in a Pew Research Center poll</a>. But restricting mobile phone use for the entire school day is less popular, with 36% in support.State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, filed the cell-phone-ban legislation with restrictions only during instructional time. She&nbsp;wanted to give school boards and charter schools the ability to decide whether or not to place further limitations on cell phones, she told The Independent.Lawmakers decided to pursue the more restrictive policy, and Steinhoff believes students will see benefits academically and socially.“The statistics really do hold that if we do the (full day), bell to bell, that’s going to have the biggest turnaround,” she said.According to&nbsp;<a href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/2_19_2025.asp" target="_blank">the National Center for Education Statistics</a>, roughly 53% of school leaders believe that cell-phone usage has hurt students’ learning abilities. And 72% say it has negatively impacted mental health.Many school districts have chosen to enact bans, and states around the country have been increasingly writing bans into law with restrictions passed in at least nine states and 10 states testing the policy in a pilot program since 2023.Missouri’s full-day ban would be one of the more restrictive laws, but there are exceptions.Students who need a mobile device to accommodate a disability are exempted, and cell phones would be allowed if there is a safety emergency at school.The legislation also gives school districts and charter schools the ability to decide if teachers may allow students to use cell phones during class.The bill does not require phones to be locked up. School boards will have to decide whether devices will be stowed in designated areas or allowed in students’ backpacks.Districts will have to enact a policy during the 2025-2026 school year.The legislation is part of a sweeping education package negotiated in the final weeks of the legislative session.It began as a three-page bill prescribing reporting requirements for school safety incidents. Now, at 138 pages, it contains bipartisan legislation, with multiple provisions aimed at school safety.

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