Why Missouri Must Trust Women to Choose Their Future

Published in St. Louis Post Dispatch https://bit.ly/43cxbXR

By Representative Dr. Kem Smith

I've been counting.

There are 114 men, one nonbinary member, and 47 women serving in Missouri's 103rd General Assembly. And I have been counting how many among us could even imagine what it’s like to be trapped—physically, financially, emotionally—inside a system that offers no mercy, only mandates.

Imagine this: You're a woman. You live in an underfunded, marginalized community. Alone. In a 500-square-foot apartment lorded over by a stingy landlord who ignores the mold creeping up your walls. Your boss flirts with you but doesn't believe you deserve a living wage or paid sick leave. Then one day, standing under the harsh fluorescent lights of a local pharmacy, you wait for the results of a pregnancy test that could alter your future forever.

I should say her future because that’s the only one under debate when this legislature votes to restrict healthcare choices for women. Somewhere in Missouri right now, a woman is sitting on the edge of a bathtub rehearsing a life for a child she may not be able to feed. A child who will be born into a system that discriminates against them from day one, starting with a mother who doesn’t qualify for insurance.

If she is Black, that mother faces a maternal mortality rate more than three times higher than her white counterparts. That’s not a statistic; that’s a death sentence.

Let’s be clear: This conversation isn’t about being "pro-life." It’s about being pro-quality of life.

When we legislate women's healthcare decisions while refusing to guarantee living wages, prenatal care, paid leave, accessible housing, and access to medical treatment, we are not protecting life. We are protecting a fantasy. We are passing laws that look good on campaign flyers while ignoring the realities faced by the women who carry this burden.

If we truly wanted to reduce the need for abortions, we would invest in women’s lives. We would expand Medicaid. We would fund prenatal services. We would support childcare initiatives and housing stability programs. We would make parenting not a punishment, but a possibility. Legislation without compassion is not justice. It is control. And control is not freedom. Freedom is trusting women to make the best decisions for their own lives. Freedom is building communities that support life in all its complexity, not just in its in

fancy. As lawmakers, we should not pretend we know better than the women who live these realities every day. We should vote as if their lives matter, because they do.

Missouri deserves better than policies rooted in fear and judgment. Missouri deserves policies rooted in dignity, compassion, and quality of life. I am pro-quality of life. And I will continue fighting for a future where every Missourian has the right and the resources to choose their future.