News from the South - Missouri News Feed
Missouri bill to overturn voter-approved paid sick leave clears Senate committee
by Clara Bates, Missouri Independent
March 26, 2025
A Republican-led push to overturn the paid sick leave law adopted by Missouri voters last year was debated and approved Wednesday by a state Senate committee.
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Sherri Gallick of Belton, was passed by the House earlier this month and would gut Proposition A, a voter-approved law requiring most employers starting May 1 to provide paid sick time off for hundreds of thousands of qualifying workers.
Gallick called the law, which also increased the state’s minimum wage, a “one-two punch for Missouri businesses” that will increase the cost of goods and services and have an adverse impact on small businesses in rural parts of the state.
She has said workers will “abuse” the leave.
Gallick’s bill would also modify the minimum wage law by removing the requirement that it be indexed to inflation.
The bill was passed out of committee Wednesday on a 5 to 2 vote party-line immediately following a contentious public hearing, with Democrats opposing.
The committee chair, state Sen. Curtis Trent of Springfield, said that although usually there is at least one week between the public hearing and committee vote, it’s “extremely clear…there is not really an opportunity for further deliberation by the committee” and that pushing the bill forward immediately would allow “robust debate and consideration” by the full Senate.
If approved by the Senate without changes, the bill would go to Gov. Mike Kehoe, who has voiced support for the proposal. There is no emergency clause, so it wouldn’t go into effect until Aug. 28 — months after the sick leave law goes into effect.
Richard Von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs with Justice, the organization that helped lead the campaign for Proposition A, said it was modeled on paid sick leave policies in 18 other states. The initiative petition passed in rural, suburban and urban counties across the state and received 58% of the vote statewide.
“Opponents made their argument, we made our argument and the voters spoke,” Von Glahn said.
Gallick’s bill is “refutation of the public will,” he added. “It will make Missouri workers more likely to have to go to work while sick, jeopardizing their own health, the health of their coworkers and of Missouri workplaces.”
Many of the same industry groups who are challenging Proposition A in the state Supreme Court testified in support of the bill Wednesday.
Kara Corches, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called the law, especially paid sick leave, a “job killer.”
“We believe that this one size fits all approach to paid sick leave is unworkable,” Corches said.
Buddy Lahl, from the Missouri Restaurant Association, called the requirements on businesses “extremely cumbersome” and said the law is a “slippery slope” for what businesses will be required to provide.
“Fixing Proposition A is not even an option, fixing the sick pay. It just needs to be eliminated. It’s just too erroneous. And I only listed some of the bigger issues. Every line in there is a problem for a small business,” Lahl said.
When Lahl said the only fix is to eliminate the law, state Sen. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat, responded: “That’s not happening, The only path you have is to maybe make some small changes.”
State Sen. Tracy McCreery, an Olivette Democrat, said restaurant workers without sick time who go to work because they need a paycheck for public health.
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Proposition A passed with the support of numerous unions, workers’ advocacy groups, social justice and civil rights organizations, as well as over 500 business owners. It guarantees sick leave for hundreds of thousands of workers and gradually hikes the minimum wage to $15. The measure won by a margin of over 400,000 votes.
Under the law, beginning May 1, the law requires employers with business receipts greater than $500,000 a year to 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 law also gradually increases the minimum wage.
Under Gallick’s bill, the minimum wage would still increase to $15 per hour in 2026, as voters approved, but it would not be adjusted for inflation thereafter — a policy that has been in place since 2007. The sick leave provisions would be repealed entirely.
Because the measure changed state law and not the constitution, the legislature can modify or overturn it without returning for a new vote of the people.
The bill passed out of the House on a vote of 96 to 51 earlier this month.
Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.
The post Missouri bill to overturn voter-approved paid sick leave clears Senate committee appeared first on missouriindependent.com
News from the South - Missouri News Feed
Missouri health department rejects Planned Parenthood plan to start medication abortions
by Anna Spoerre, Missouri Independent
March 28, 2025
Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics remain unable to offer medication abortions after the state rejected their complication plans this week.
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates clinics in the St. Louis region, Rolla and Springfield, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates clinics in Kansas City and Columbia, received a letter from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Thursday stating their complication plans did not meet state requirements.
The decision means that almost five months after voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring abortion rights, the most common method to terminate a pregnancy is not available in Missouri.
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This rejection was based on the criteria of an emergency rule published the same day by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.
That rule requires the complication plan for any facility prescribing abortion medication to more than 10 women a month must:
Have an on-call OB-GYN who lives within 25 miles of the clinic available at all times for seven days after a patient takes the medication. This physician would be required to treat any complications that arise as a result of the medication unless the standard of care requires someone else to treat them. Provide for patients who live further than 25 miles from the clinic, the name of the emergency room and a physician “within a reasonable distance of the location where the patient will complete the abortion.”Submit the full names of all physicians involved in the local complication plans.
While three clinics —Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis — have resumed some procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood leadership have said they will not begin prescribing medication abortions without an approved complication plan.
Leadership with Planned Parenthood Great Rivers is still deciding on next steps, a spokesperson said.
The Department of Health and Senior Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement in February, department spokeswoman Sami Jo Freeman said complication plans are “important to ensure the safety of patients because medication abortions will likely be completed at home without a physician present.”
When the clinics submitted their complication plans in February, they did not include the names of any physicians involved. The proposals state that patients could contact the clinic at any time with concerns, including an after-hours line staffed by licensed nurses who can refer calls to an on-call physician.
“If a potentially urgent complication is suspected based on the patient’s symptoms or the patient is not able to return to the health center in a timely way, the nurse will direct them to the emergency department (ED),” the initial plans submitted by Planned Parenthood read.
With the patient’s consent, the proposal continued, the ER would be told the patient’s medical history if possible. Planned Parenthood would follow up with the patient the next day.
Across the country, abortion medication is the most common method used to end a pregnancy.
In 2023, nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States took place using medication as opposed to in-clinic procedures, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group.
In states where abortion is legal, medication that induces a miscarriage is available to patients in their first trimester of pregnancy. Patients typically take two doses of medication, the second of which is often taken at home. In recent years, a growing number of women have been ordering abortion medication from online providers in the United States and abroad, including to states where abortion remains illegal.
According to the FDA, mifepristone is safe to use if taken as directed. Cramping and bleeding are common side effects of the medication. Those prescribed mifepristone are urged to call their doctor if they experience heavy bleeding, abdominal pain or a fever. The same guidance applies to those who recently underwent procedural abortions, experienced miscarriages or delivered a baby.
Since the medication was approved for use 28 years ago, only 32 deaths have been reported associated with mifepristone, according to the FDA.
Earlier this month, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a notice of an intent to serve a cease and desist letter to the Planned Parenthood clinics, doubling down on his demand that Planned Parenthood stop performing a type of abortion that its clinics aren’t actually offering patients.
Several Planned Parenthood clinics remained open even after the procedure was outlawed statewide in June 2022. The clinics primarily provide family planning services, cancer screenings and STI testing and treatment, including to patients on Medicaid.
Shortly after Missourians in November narrowly approved Amendment 3, granting the constitutional right to an abortion, Planned Parenthood sued the state, arguing dozens of regulations on abortion providers were no longer constitutional.
In mid-February, a Jackson County judge struck down most of the regulations, allowing Planned Parenthood to resume in-clinic procedural abortions for the first time in years.
Abortion returns to Columbia, opening access for mid-Missouri for first time since 2018
The first abortion to happen in Missouri since the procedure was outlawed statewide in June 2022 took place in February at a Kansas City clinic. In early March, procedural abortions returned to the clinic in Columbia for the first time since 2018.
And on Thursday, the clinic in St. Louis quietly performed its first two abortions since 2022.
The clinic plans to take additional abortion patients who are earlier than 12 weeks gestation over the coming weeks, but the number of days abortion is provided in St. Louis will depend on physicians’ schedules, Nick Dunne, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, said Friday.
Staff at the St. Louis clinic did not initially indicate they would bring back procedural abortions this soon.
“Ahead of the December ruling, our staff had been preparing to start providing medication abortion — including staff training, as well as ordering supplies and medications,” Dunne said in a statement. “Recognizing more recently that we were likely to face additional hurdles from state officials on medication abortion, our medical and patient services teams pivoted to allocating staff, equipment, and other necessary resources in order to begin offering procedural abortion again.”
Planned Parenthood likely won’t be able to begin offering procedural abortions at its clinics in Rolla or Springfield until additional physicians are hired, Dunne said, adding that Planned Parenthood is “working aggressively” to expand their physician numbers.
There are currently two long-term staff physicians and one contracted physician at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which also oversees the clinic in Fairview Heights. The two long-term physicians are both based in the St. Louis area.
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Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.
The post Missouri health department rejects Planned Parenthood plan to start medication abortions appeared first on missouriindependent.com
News from the South - Missouri News Feed
PWHL Takeover Tour in St. Louis
SUMMARY: The PWHL Takeover Tour arrives in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center tomorrow afternoon, showcasing women’s hockey with the Boston Fleet competing against the Ottawa Charged. Mandy Gottman, VP of Communications for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, emphasizes the excitement as they reach their 99th stop on the tour. The league, formed in January 2024, features top players, including St. Louis native Tommy Gincy Rose, a notable Olympian. This event highlights women’s hockey’s growth, with increased participation in the region. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for warm-ups and to support their teams with signs.

Mandy Gutmann, Communications for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), joined the morning show to preview a matchup between the Ottawa Charge and Boston Fleet, who will be playing at the Enterprise Center on Saturday. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com
News from the South - Missouri News Feed
Weather Impact Alert: Severe weather chances ramp up Sunday
SUMMARY: A weather impact alert has been issued for St. Louis, indicating potential severe weather on Sunday, specifically between noon and 5 PM. While Saturday will see some morning showers, no severe weather is expected. Early Sunday may also bring non-severe storms, but an enhanced risk for severe weather persists in the afternoon, including threats of wind, hail, and possible tornadoes. Temperatures will reach around 82°F this weekend. Meteorologists urge residents to monitor updates and track storms through apps as conditions remain active into the week, with another round of storms anticipated on Wednesday.

A Weather Impact Alert has been issued for Sunday’s storm threat. Damaging winds, hail & tornadoes are all possible.
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