SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
missouri
Newly Approved Missouri Referendum Could Reverse State Abortion Ban
"By passing this amendment, we can end Missouri's total abortion ban and ensure that Missourians regain access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare," said one organizer.
Aug 13, 2024
Voters in at least eight U.S. states will now be able to vote on constitutional amendment ballot measures regarding abortion rights in the November elections, and in Missouri on Tuesday, organizers celebrated as they learned their initiative to place a history-making referendum on ballots had succeeded.
Missouri voters will have the opportunity to vote "yes" on the Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative, which, if passed, would make Missouri the first state to reverse its strict abortion ban through a vote by citizens.
The ballot initiative was officially certified by the Missouri secretary of state on Tuesday, three months after organizers with Missourians for Constitutional Freedom delivered more than 380,000 signatures to the state Capitol.
"This effort is a lifeline for Missourians who are now living under a senseless and cruel abortion ban passed by politicians who are deeply out of touch with voters in the state," said Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, which helped to fund and assist Missourians for Constitutional Freedom's signature-gathering campaign. "Missourians want and need to make their own healthcare decisions without government interference. Today, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom moved voters one step closer to securing reproductive rights, and we are proud to stand with them."
Missouri's abortion ban is one of the most extreme in the nation, with the procedure prohibited in almost all circumstances "except in cases of medical emergency." The 2019 policy went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
"As we turn our attention to the November ballot, it's clear Missourians overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom and will have the chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box."
In addition to reversing the ban, the Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative would establish that Missouri residents have the right to make their own decisions about reproductive healthcare, including abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care.
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said the campaign's gathering of nearly 400,000 signatures from all 114 counties in Missouri is a testament to voters' commitment to reversing the abortion ban.
"As we turn our attention to the November ballot, it's clear Missourians overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom and will have the chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box. We are ready to fight so all Missourians can take back the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions," said Sweet.
As numerous state bans have gone into effect in 2022, reproductive health clinics in bordering states that allow abortion care have been flooded with patients from other states, delaying care for Missourians, who even before the overturning of Roe frequently crossed state lines to get care. A hospital in Joplin, Missouri denied a patient an emergency abortion last year, in violation of a federal statute, because doctors were concerned that providing care would break the state law.
"Missourians have been suffering under a total abortion ban with no exceptions, leaving women and families in unimaginable circumstances," said Margot Riphagen, vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action. "This cruel and unjust ban has put countless lives at risk and denied people the fundamental right to make their own healthcare decisions. By passing this amendment, we can end Missouri's total abortion ban and ensure that Missourians regain access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare." "It's time to put control back in the hands of individuals," added Riphagen, "and protect the health and dignity of our communities."
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom said it would hold canvassing kickoff events on August 17 and 18 to urge people to vote "yes" on the Right to Reproductive Freedom ballot question.
On Monday, organizers in Arizona also celebrated as the state formally certified their proposed ballot measure to establish the right to abortion care in the state constitution.
Advocates in Montana and Nebraska have submitted signatures for similar initiatives and are awaiting approval.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Cori Bush Loses Reelection Bid to Democrat Backed by AIPAC
"Tonight's results should be a warning sign to anyone who cares about our democracy," said one advocacy group.
Aug 07, 2024
Rep. Cori Bush lost her reelection bid in Missouri's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday to a Democratic primary candidate backed by a massive influx of spending from AIPAC, which targeted the progressive incumbent over her early calls for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Wesley Bell, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, enjoyed a huge cash advantage over Bush, with nearly two-thirds of his campaign money coming from fundraising efforts by AIPAC's super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP).
UDP, which has been bankrolled by ultra-wealthy Republicans, spent around $8.5 million to oust Bush, the second Squad member to lose to an AIPAC-backed primary opponent this election cycle. AIPAC pledged earlier this year to spend $100 million attacking progressive candidates, and the organization has thus far been the largest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year.
The Intercept's Akela Lacy reported that in Tuesday's race, AIPAC's money was spent "on voter engagement efforts and phone banking in addition to digital and mail ads."
"One of the mailers, first reported by The Intercept, included images that distorted Bush's features," Lacy added.
Bell, who also raised money directly from Republican billionaires and previously served as campaign manager for a GOP candidate, narrowly defeated Bush, winning 51.2% of the vote compared to the incumbent's 45.6%—a margin of fewer than 7,000 votes.
In a fiery speech to supporters following her defeat, Bush said that by "pulling me away from my position as congresswoman, all you did was take some of the strings off."
Bush, who was elected to the House in 2020, went on to directly address AIPAC's role in what became one of the most expensive congressional primaries in U.S. history.
"AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down," said Bush. "And let me put all of these corporations on notice: I'm coming after you too. But I'm not coming by myself. I'm coming with all the people that's in here, that's doing the work."
Cori Bush defiant in defeat: "All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid."
"They about to see this other Cori, this other side," she said. "AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down." pic.twitter.com/690T0aEhmZ
— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) August 7, 2024
Justice Democrats, a progressive organization that helped propel Bush to victory in 2020 and backed her reelection bid, said following Tuesday's contest that "no matter what a singular super PAC can spend to try and buy an election, nothing can take away from the transformational effect Cori Bush has directly had on the people of St. Louis."
"That power—of everyday people to transform what we can expect from our political system—is such a threat to right-wing power, corporate interests, and AIPAC's influence, that a coalition of GOP-funded Super PACs had to spend over $12 million to even have a chance at defeating it," the group said in a statement posted to social media. "As AIPAC's influence in Congress wanes and the right-wing network propping it up is exposed, AIPAC has to spend historic amounts to continue advancing their interests at the expense of the Democratic mainstream that overwhelmingly supports a ceasefire and an end to genocide in Gaza."
Bush was one of the original sponsors of a congressional resolution calling for an end to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has dragged on for 10 months and left nearly 40,000 Palestinians dead, according to official tallies that are likely a vast undercount given the number of people missing under ruins and in mass graves.
"We can't bomb our way to peace, equality, and freedom," Bush said as she introduced the resolution alongside her progressive House colleagues on October 16. "With thousands of lives lost and millions more at stake, we need a cease-fire now."
"Cori Bush had the moral courage to speak out against her constituents' taxpayer dollars funding war crimes in Gaza."
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, said Tuesday that "without the deluge of misleading advertisements" attacking Bush, she "would be headed to Congress for another term next year."
"Tonight's results should be a warning sign to anyone who cares about our democracy," said Shiney-Ajay. "If Democratic Party leaders don't stand against AIPAC and right-wing billionaires, they undermine our democracy and risk disillusioning the young voters and voters of color we need to defeat the far-right."
Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese echoed that message, saying in a statement that "tonight's outcome puts the blatantly undemocratic nature of Democratic Party primaries on full display."
"Cori Bush had the moral courage to speak out against her constituents' taxpayer dollars funding war crimes in Gaza. As a result, AIPAC and its MAGA Republican-funded super PAC spent more than $8.4 million to buy her congressional seat," said Geevarghese.
"Democratic Party elites have spent years decrying Trump as an existential threat to democracy," he added, "yet they are resoundingly silent when wealthy conservative donors unseat a true working-class champion who was among the first federal lawmakers to endorse Kamala Harris in her historic candidacy for president."
Keep ReadingShow Less
The Simple Question Those Who Smear Cori Bush Refuse to Answer
People like Kansas City Star editorial board member Melinda Henneberger are as cowardly as they are common.
Aug 01, 2024
Soon after the Gaza war began 10 months ago, a prominent newspaper columnist denounced Congresswoman Cori Bush under a headline declaring that “anti-Israel comments make her unfit for reelection.” The piece appeared in the newspaper with the second-largest readership in Missouri, the Kansas City Star. Multimillion-dollar attacks on Bush followed.
Bush’s opponent, county prosecutor Wesley Bell, “is now the number-one recipient of AIPAC cash this election cycle,” according to Justice Democrats. “Almost two-thirds of all his donations came from the anti-Palestinian, far-right megadonor-funded lobby group.” The Interceptreports that “AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has gone on to spend a total of $7 million so far to oust Bush” in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary in her St. Louis area district.
“The $2.1 million in ads spent for her campaign is up against $12.2 million spent to attack her or support Bell,” The American Prospectpoints out. AIPAC “is trying to pull voters away from her without ever saying the words ‘Israel’ or ‘Palestine.’ Instead, their advertising against Bush centers around her record on infrastructure legislation, in a manner that lacks context.”
Denial about Israel’s massive and ongoing crimes against Palestinian people is pervasive—and often used to attack principled progressives in election campaigns.
It's easy to see why AIPAC and allied forces are so eager to defeat Bush. She courageously introduced a ceasefire resolution in the House nine days after the bloodshed began on Oct. 7, calling for “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine.”
The Kansas City Star article, published shortly after Bush introduced the resolution, was written by former New York Times reporter Melinda Henneberger, now a member of the Star’s editorial board. “A military attack in response to the massacre of civilians by a group committed in writing to ‘carnage, displacement and terror’ for Jews is not my idea of ‘ethnic cleansing,’” she wrote in early November. “But it is Missouri Rep. Cori Bush’s, which is why she deserves to lose her congressional race next year.”
Bush supposedly became unfit to keep her seat in Congress because, after three weeks of methodical killing in Gaza, she tweeted: “We can’t be silent about Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign. Babies, dead. Pregnant women, dead. Elderly, dead. Generations of families, dead. Millions of people in Gaza with nowhere to go being slaughtered. The U.S. must stop funding these atrocities against Palestinians.”
Henneberger’s response was hit-and-run. She wrote a hit piece. And then she ran.
Ever since late April, I’ve been asking Henneberger just one question, over and over. Every few weeks, I have sent another email directly to her. I also wrote to her care of an editor at the newspaper. And I even mailed a certified letter, which the post office delivered to her office in June.
No reply.
Henneberger’s column had flatly declared that Bush’s tweet was a “projectile spewing of antisemitic comments and disinformation” because it said that Israel was engaged in ethnic cleansing.
So, my question, which Henneberger has been refusing to answer for more than three months, is a logical one: “Do you contend that the Israeli government has not engaged in ethnic cleansing?”
If Henneberger were to answer no, the entire premise of her column smearing Bush would collapse.
If Henneberger were to answer yes, her reply would be untenable.
No wonder she has chosen not to answer at all.
My question, which Henneberger has been refusing to answer for more than three months, is a logical one: “Do you contend that the Israeli government has not engaged in ethnic cleansing?”
What Israel has been doing in Gaza clearly qualifies as “ethnic cleansing”—which a UN Commission of Experts defined as “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”
But denial about Israel’s massive and ongoing crimes against Palestinian people is pervasive—and often used to attack principled progressives in election campaigns. And so, two months ago, in the St. Louis area, 35 rabbis supporting Bell against Bush issued a statement that alleged the congresswoman “continually fanned the flames with the most outrageous smears of Israel, accusing the Jewish state of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’ as it has fought to defeat the terrorists.”
The electoral forces against human rights for Palestinians have been armed with huge amounts of cash. AIPAC dumped $15 million into successfully defeating progressive New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman early this summer. While the spending amount set a record, the approach was far from unprecedented.
In 2022, AIPAC beat Michigan Congressman Andy Levin, who had expressed support for Palestinian rights. “I’m really Jewish,” Levin said in an interview days before losing the Democratic primary, “but AIPAC can’t stand the idea that I am the clearest, strongest Jewish voice in Congress standing for a simple proposition: that there is no way to have a secure, democratic homeland for the Jewish people unless we achieve the political and human rights of the Palestinian people.”
AIPAC excels at strategic lobbying on Capitol Hill, relentlessly prodding or threatening lawmakers and their staffs to stay on the right side of a Zionist hardline, always brandishing the proven capacity to launch fierce attacks—while conflating even understated criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The basic formulas are simple: Israel = Judaism. Opposition to Israel’s lethal violence = antisemitism.
Such formulaic manipulation has long been fundamental to claims that the Israeli government represents “the Jewish people” and criticisms of its actions are “antisemitic.”
That’s what the heroic Congresswoman Cori Bush is up against.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular