A campaign to legalize abortion in Missouri disclosed raising more than $1.1 million in donations on the first day it launched.

The campaign, a coalition organized under a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, announced on Jan. 18 it was launching a campaign to move forward with a ballot initiative that would legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability.

With the exception of medical emergencies, all abortions are illegal in Missouri.

The campaign has the support of Abortion Action Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri and Planned Parenthood affiliates in Kansas City and St. Louis.
Among the largest contributions include $100,000 from Abortion Action Missouri, $100,000 from the ACLU of Missouri, $75,000 from Planned Parenthood Great Plains and $30,000 from Access Missouri, according to reports filed to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

But the largest donation so far was a $500,000 check from the Fairness Project, a 501(c) 4 nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors. The organization helps bankroll ballot measures across the country, including Missouri’s successful 2020 Medicaid expansion initiative petition.

After months of internal debate, abortion-rights organizations settled on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the legislature to “regulate the provision of abortion after fetal viability provided that under no circumstance shall the government deny, interfere with, delay or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

While many say they see a clear path to victory for the amendment if it makes it to the ballot, the coalition still faces a tight timeline. The group estimates it will need to raise $5 million to successfully gather the more than 171,000 signatures needed by May 5 in order to appear on the statewide ballot.

“We are so proud to have launched this campaign with such a broad coalition and are excited to continue engaging Missourians in every corner of the state to come together and end Missouri’s abortion ban,” Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, said.

A competing ballot campaign launched in November, led by longtime GOP Congressional staffer Jamie Corley, would enshrine abortion rights in the constitution up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and allow exceptions for rape and incest.

Corley declined to give an update on her campaign status, but said having two initiatives on the ballot would be “less than ideal in terms of moving forward.”

“We all agree that the current abortion ban is too extreme and needs to change,” Corley said. “And we’ll keep assessing day by day what our role is in changing the abortion ban and making sure we restore access.”

The campaign to enshrine abortion rights up to fetal viability has been endorsed by numerous high-profile Democrats, including state Rep. Crystal Quade, who is running as a Democrat for governor on a platform that includes restoring abortion access.

“Since Missouri became the first state to enact a total abortion ban, women and families have suffered, doctors have fled the state, and our rights have been stripped away,” Quade wrote on social media. “Sign the petition, gather signatures, and let’s return reproductive freedom to Missouri.”

While the major abortion advocacy organizations are lining up behind the measure, anti-abortion activists have launched their own campaign in opposition.

A political action committee, whose president is veteran anti-abortion activist Sam Lee, was formed to “push back against the Big Abortion Industry,” according to a news release. Recently, the group had received a donation of just over $5,000, from the Missouri Catholic Conference and two $10,000 donations from the Missouri Senate Campaign Committee and the House Republican Campaign Committee.

The group, called Missouri Stands with Women, aims to fight any initiative petitions seeking to put abortion rights on the ballot, including the viability ban.

“When it really comes down to it, this measure is actually going to allow unregulated tax-payer funded abortions up to the moment of birth,” said Stephanie Bell, a spokeswoman for the committee. “Essentially what it’s saying is that as long as the individual has a healthcare professional that says the abortion is needed not only for the life of the mother, but for physical and mental health, that abortion will be available up until the moment of birth.”

“Our coalition is united and aligned, and we didn’t just come together yesterday,” Bell said. “We are prepared to educate voters and let them know what’s really in the initiative.”

Erika Christensen, with Patient Forward, a group that advocates for abortion care later in pregnancy, said the announcement to include a viability limit wasn’t surprising, considering many states have taken similar approaches since Roe was overturned, including Arizona, Florida, Nebraska and Nevada. Last fall, Ohioans voted to legalize abortion up to the point of viability.

“It will be better at getting people abortions,” Christensen said of the ballot measure. “It will hurt getting the government out of pregnancy.”