Last week, Attorney General Eric Schmitt signed a memorandum, authorizing the nation’s first “trigger law,” or the automatic and total ban on abortion following the repeal of Roe v. Wade. By “triggering” the abortion ban – which would not and did not take effect until A.G. Schmitt signed it – Missouri once again made history in one of the worst ways possible.
[State Representative Mary Elizabeth] Coleman has worked hard to become the face of the national anti-abortion movement – and in the process, one of the figureheads for the “Christofascist” movement in Missouri. Like a less savvy Phyllis Schlafly, hiding behind designer clothes and expensive makeup, Coleman has wielded both her wealth and privilege in an effort to criminalize abortion for both the mother and medical provider …
Although the Supreme Court case that overturned women’s right to control their own bodies, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, originated in Mississippi, the EYE simply cannot ignore the prominent role played by Missourians in the larger movement to repeal the rights established under the Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments. From licensed attorneys who know better to zealous white supremacists, Missouri anti-abortion advocates have made their racist agenda known far and wide: the assault on civil rights is far from over.
We’ll start with the “young mom of 6” who “blasts Lizzo and Beyoncé” while she gleefully strips other women of their rights – State Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman. Coleman has worked hard to become the face of the national anti-abortion movement – and in the process, one of the figureheads for the “Christofascist” movement in Missouri. Like a less savvy Phyllis Schlafly, hiding behind designer clothes and expensive makeup, Coleman has wielded both her wealth and privilege in an effort to criminalize abortion for both the mother and medical provider, to allocate taxpayer dollars to religious programs that lie to pregnant women about basic biology, and to push false information as scientific fact — all in just one bill. Other instances where Coleman – as a Missouri-licensed attorney – has known of the unconstitutionality of her bills include legislative attempts to ban all forms of birth control and to ban pregnant women from leaving the state of Missouri to seek abortion medical care.
In other words, this state representative seeks to prevent people from crossing state lines to access health care. Do we really believe that attacks on constitutional rights, like Coleman and others like her, will stop at banning abortion?
While most religious people are moved by their faith to help and inspire others, Coleman undoubtedly has used her narrow interpretation of the Bible to further oppression not just against women, but against every other class that previously enjoyed protections under the 14th Amendment. As an attorney, Coleman knows immediately and understands the consequences of the laws she’s drafted – and nevertheless, this girl boss persists.
Coleman’s performative spectacle was joined by her colleagues and fellow “champions” for white supremacy, Rep. Nick Schroer and Sens. Mike Moon and Bob Onder. Schroer, of course, is remembered for his declaration that white privilege is “fictional,” while Moon’s and Onder’s recent antics in the Missouri Senate include attempting to strip state and federal funding from women’s cancer screenings and prevention programs and to ban gender-affirming medical care in the state. Schroer’s own history of unconstitutional legislation includes a 2022 bill banning public funds going to licensed abortion facilities (with the only facility in Missouri being Planned Parenthood) and a 2019 ban on abortions after 8 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest survivors. Moon and Onder, in particular, were part of the Republican in-fighting from this spring’s legislative session, where they held hostage the senate floor with a filibuster until their demands for an unconstitutional congressional map were met.
As we predicted in our May 18 column, the U.S. Supreme Court is not finished with its mission to pull back on all civil rights protections that find their roots in the 14th Amendment. Justice Clarence Thomas – who has been the only Black justice on the Supreme Court for 30 years, said in his dissent, citing selective history, “For that reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”
In other words, after the court’s ruling overturning two landmark legal precedents protecting a woman’s right to abortion Justice Thomas advocates for the repeal of Griswold v. Connecticut, which allowed married couples to buy and use birth control without government interference in 1965; Lawrence v. Texas, which repealed criminal punishments for sodomy between consenting adults in 2003; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same sex marriage in 2015. Thomas did stop short of naming Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court case based on the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment that struck down bans on interracial marriages. This might be difficult for him as he is in an interracial marriage with right-wing activist Virginia Thomas.
Other rights now at risk of loss include the right to public education, the right to live in the neighborhood of your choice, the right to have and use a credit card, and the right to sit on a jury.
These concerns are not simply the EYE overreacting: the dissenting opinion states, “[e]ither the majority does not really believe in its own reasoning. Or if it does, all rights that have no history stretching back to the mid-19th century are insecure. Either the mass of the majority’s opinion is hypocrisy, or additional constitutional rights are under threat. It is one or the other.”
The Justices, of course, refer to the enactment of several post-Civil War constitutional amendments to the Bill of Rights, including the 13th Amendment, which legalized slavery through the institution of mass incarceration; the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection and due process; and the 15th Amendment, which gave voting rights to Black men.
But these are the very rights that the ultra-conservative Supreme Court seeks to limit; after all, the United States is a nation that didn’t even make it through the first few steps of Reconstruction and reparations to the survivors of chattel slavery.
In consideration of everything that has happened in the last week, we would be foolish to believe that this is not an intentional effort to return this country to its pre-Civil War politics.
The EYE acknowledges the local leaders who have stepped forward for women, including Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Alderwoman Annie Rice (Ward 8). Rice is the aldermanic sponsor of Board Bill 61, which would establish a fund that helps abortion-seekers with the logistical hurdles of the medical procedure. Mayor Jones has acknowledged that the “Sue Bully” – Attorney General Schmitt – likely will sue the City over the establishment of the fund. “This is a time to act, and people elected a mayor to act on their behalf,” Jones said at Monday’s press conference.
We wish every Supreme Court in the country, including the nine Justices who are not bound by the existing Code of Justice for U.S. Federal Judges and every state supreme court – to first enact their own codes of conduct and standards. Right now, there are no conflict-of-interest standards for the top judges in the country. The justices who politically supported Trump’s “Big Lie” had (and have) no obligation to recuse themselves from hearing the cases involving the disgraced former president. As voters, we should have no expectation for ungoverned, undemocratic judges to make the right decisions for the citizens they supposedly serve, when these institutions have no rules or restrictions regulating their conduct. Change must begin there.
Since we won’t hold our breath for this U.S. Supreme Court to do the right thing, in the meantime we encourage our readers to contact every single Missouri legislator who has played a role in the blanket dismantling of Roe v. Wade, bodily autonomy, and the anticipated repeal of every right bestowed under the 14th Amendment. Voters can find legislators’ contact information through the Missouri Secretary of State’s website.
And we thank the elected leaders who have stepped forward with immediate action, to not just offer placations of public statements but concrete, tangible legislation, and resolutions to protect everyone impacted by reproductive injustice.