Missourians are set to vote on whether to unravel the state’s abortion ban or keep it intact. And as the debate rages across the state, access to reproductive health care has become a major flashpoint in the race for U.S.
Senate between Republican Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce
Hawley, who is seeking re-election after winning the seat in 2018, is adamantly anti-abortion. Kunce, a Marine veteran, has made support for abortion rights a key piece of his insurgent campaign.
The stark differences mean the outcome of the multi-million showdown for Missouri’s Senate seat could have wide-reaching effects on abortion access.
“Abortion’s legality nationwide hangs in the balance with who controls the Senate,” said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University. “And if the Republicans control the Senate, I would think Josh Hawley would be a big part of driving that national abortion ban conversation.”
Hawley has vehemently opposed abortion his entire political career.
“Abortion is not a right. It is a violent act against the defenseless. It violates every principle of morality and should be barred by American law,” Hawley said in 2016 while running for Missouri Attorney General, adding that he supports ”every limit that can receive public support.”
Hawley said at the time that he opposed abortion at any point in pregnancy and also opposed embryonic stem-cell research, though more recently has stressed he wouldn’t support a national ban.
“Every person is made in the image of God,” Hawley said during a July interview with Tony Perkins who leads the Family Research Council, an anti-LGBTQ group. “Every life matters and we ought to be clear on that, especially now that the voters and their elected voters have the say.”
Kunce is running hard in the opposite direction, voicing unwavering support for Missouri’s Amendment 3, which would overturn the current ban and legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability. Abortion became illegal in the state in 2022, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies but not for survivors of rape or incest.
In his political ads and at rallies, Kunce has depicted Hawley as an extremist who plans to pass a nationwide abortion ban, calling Hawley’s recent debate remarks opposing a nationwide ban a ruse rather than reality.
“I’m gonna tell you right now: women’s reproductive rights, we’re taking our power back this fall,” Kunce told a rally of supporters in Jefferson City earlier this month. “And there is literally no worse member of Congress on women’s rights than Josh Hawley, which, folks, that’s an achievement.”
A recent statewide poll by St. Louis University/YouGov found 52 percent of respondents were in favor of Amendment 3, with 34 percent opposed. The same polling puts Hawley 11 percentage points ahead of Kunce.
Kunce and Hawley on abortion
Mingling with supporters alongside Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker at a campaign event in Parkville this month, Hawley was asked by reporters about his historical positions on IVF and abortion.
“Missouri’s law on IVF is pretty darn good. I wouldn’t change it,” Hawley said. “If you’re asking me my own opinion on abortion, I would favor exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. That’s what I would like to see, like to vote for.”
As for Amendment 3, Hawley said he was glad citizens have the right to vote on the issue.
“We’ve got to allow voters to vote on these issues when it comes to abortion,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely right Missouri voters get to make a choice on this. And they can vote on it as many times as they want to.”
He twice declined to answer questions about his position on fetal personhood, a topic that drew attention after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that frozen, pre-implanted embryos have the same rights as children in a case that left many Alabamans temporarily cut off from access to in-vitro fertilization.
But he did accuse Kunce of supporting abortion until the point of birth, an attack echoed by anti-abortion activists and lawmakers who’ve spoken against Amendment 3.
Amendment 3, if passed, would allow the Missouri legislature to regulate abortion after the point of fetal viability, generally seen as the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, with exceptions for “the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
Kunce says he supports codifying Roe v. Wade at a national level, and last spring said if elected he would “fight to end the filibuster and enshrine reproductive freedom and abortion rights into law.”
He also supports funding contraception for everyone, regardless of who their employer is.
About a decade ago, Hawley assisted with the Hobby Lobby case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that private employers could cite religious exemptions to opt out of covering contraceptives for employees.
Anna Spoerre covers reproductive health care. A graduate of Southern Illinois University, she most recently worked at the Kansas City Star where she focused on storytelling that put people at the center of wider issues. Before that she was a courts reporter for the Des Moines Register. Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
