This Pride Month, join Pro-Choice Missouri in honoring, celebrating, and uplifting the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for justice and the contributions of queer activists to the abortion movement. Our movement for reproductive freedom and the LGBTQ+ movement are fighting for the same thing: the freedom to define our own futures and control our bodies. Our work is deeply intertwined: people across the gender spectrum—trans, non-binary, gender-non-conforming folks—can get pregnant and deserve accessible, affordable reproductive healthcare– including access to abortions. Yet too often our LGBTQ+ siblings feel left out of the conversation and fight for abortion rights.

This past legislative session, we saw the will and intention of the Missouri legislature to attack the trans community, especially targeting trans children. Two attacks on trans communities passed in the 2023 legislative session, and we are committed to supporting every LGBTQ+ Missourians continued access to care and, working together towards a future where all people can make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures.

It’s time to stand firmly with our LGBTQ+ community. We can make sure that the language we use is intentional, inclusive and stigma free when we talk about LGBTQ+ access to abortion. Start by saying it out loud: trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary people need abortions! It’s that simple. Take the next step by checking yourself using gendered language– instead of exclusively saying “women’s rights,” include trans and non-binary folks in the conversation with language like “abortion rights” or “women and pregnant people’s rights.” And then, listen to LGBTQ+ voices leading these conversations: Follow the work of PROMO, Metro Trans Umbrella Group, Transformations KC, and HRC to join the fight for our LGBTQ+ siblings!

Reproductive Freedom Fighters: Johnathan Duncan

This week’s Reproductive Freedom Fighter is Johnathan Duncan. Running to represent the 6th District on the City Council in Kansas City Johnathan is the only reproductive freedom champion in his race against a known anti-abortion politician. A veteran and mental health advocate, Johnathan is a community leader who knows the importance of having abortion access, and will fight to ensure that parents and families can access the care they need. “Without access to an affordable and accessible abortion, I would have been forced to make a false choice, because having a child at 18 with my then partner who was 19 would have forced me to make decisions not based on personal freedom, but on survival. We all deserve to make decisions based on personal freedom rather than survival. We all deserve access to healthcare that allows us to thrive.“ Johnathan is the candidate who will work with people in our communities to find collective solutions that ensure we all thrive. 

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