Missouri lawmakers look to broaden women's access to health care

Ezra Bitterman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jan 16, 2025

Published in Women

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JEFFERSON CITY — A Republican and Democrat are joining forces in the Missouri Legislature to increase access to birth control, improve responses to sexual assault, and enhance treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

Bills filed by Sen. Patty Lewis, D-Kansas City, and Rep. Tara Peters, R-Rolla, are identical to a measure that passed the Missouri House last session.

“If we stand for Missouri families, women and healthy children then we need to make this a priority,” Lewis, the first nurse elected to the Missouri Senate, said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch.

In 2024, Missouri ranked 40th out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in women’s health care access, quality and outcomes, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a more than 100-year-old organization focused on researching health care issues.

Under the bill, women would be able to pick up a year’s worth of birth control at one time instead of every few months, easing the burden for those without access to nearby health care providers. Women in 25 states, including Republican-led states like Texas and West Virginia, already have this option.

More than 350,000 women in Missouri live in areas without access to the full range of contraceptive methods, according to data compiled by Power to Decide, a nonprofit group that researches access to reproductive health care.

House Republicans repeatedly blocked the bill, citing concerns that the contraception provision would increase access to abortion drugs. The bill sat on the House calendar for more than a month as Peters worked to persuade her colleagues the language would have no effect on abortion. By the time it reached the Senate, it was too late in the legislative session to get final passage.

To avoid a similar fate this year, Peters says she’s focused on “education, education, education” — making sure her colleagues understand the bill doesn’t affect the availability of abortion medications.

Dr. Shvetha Zarek, a physician based in Chesterfield, said other less-controversial provisions in the proposed law also could prove “very helpful” for patients and providers.

The bill, for example, would expand physicians’ ability to use expedited partner therapy for treating more sexually transmitted diseases with different medications. EPT allows doctors to prescribe medication for someone they are not directly treating if that person’s sexual partner is diagnosed with an STD. Currently, EPT is used to treat chlamydia and gonorrhea. Under the bill, doctors could also prescribe medication for trichomoniasis.

Additionally, doctors could prescribe more treatment options beyond pills, such as injections. Zarek said these changes would likely slow the spread of STDs as doctors gain more tools to treat patients.

Currently, doctors are required to draw pregnant women's blood to test for syphilis, hepatitis B, and other diseases once. Under the bill, they would have to draw blood again during the 28th week of a pregnancy. Lewis said she hopes the second drawing will limit the risk of passing a disease down during pregnancy.

Under the proposal, health care providers without the proper equipment would be able to transfer a patient to a larger facility to receive a sexual assault evaluation.

Another provision removes a state cancer warning issued to a patient after a mammogram. Patients already receive a warning required by the federal government, so Lewis and Peters said they felt the state one was unnecessary.

Peters expressed confidence the bill will be signed into law this year.

“It’s going to move across the finish line,” she said.

The legislation is Senate Bill 178 and House Bill 398.

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