Vox Magazine

0 5 . 0 4 . 1 7 / / F R E E E V E RY T H U R S D AY

BAR IMPROVEMENT

The stories of the peple behind CoMo’s nightlife decor PAGE 4

TWEETS TO TUNES

Musician Aaron Schilb finds inspiration in social media PAGE 30

labor intensive

fight There is no end to the national debate over abortion and women’s reproductive rights. People involved in this ongoing conversation make their voices heard every day through their faith, passion and sacrifice.

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IN THIS ISSUE

ONLINE

MAY 4, 2017 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 16 | PUBLISHED BY THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH Women’s reproductive health in the Show-Me State is more divisive than ever. These 14 stories give an overview of women’s reproductive rights and health care in Missouri, and the intersection of competing ideologies, state legislators, Planned Parenthood, MU and the people affected by it all. PAGE 8 NEWS & INSIGHT Got a sweet tooth for fruits but not sure where to go for the primo produce mid-Missouri has to offer? We have got four spots for you to snag the freshest berries and veggies. PAGE 3 THE SCENE Nothing tells the story of CoMo’s nightlife like the hand-crafted bartops, tables and other decor that populate your favorite downtown spots. PAGE 4

CHIC SUMMER GETAWAY GUIDE Don’t sweat the summer heat with these seven vital accessories for any warm-weather wardrobe. We’ll show you how to make a statement with your sun hat and be sassy with your sunglasses.

DENNIS LAYNE’S OLD-SCHOOL COUNTRY The local guitarist and mandolin-player is coming out with his first solo album, Two-Dollar Portrait with a release party at Rose Music Hall on Saturday.

FLY OFF TO BARRED OWL BUTCHER & BAR In our latest installment of Eat This, Vox digs into the Columbia restaurant’s lunch menu. Read up on why the muffuletta sandwich will be your new go-to.

EDITOR’S LETTER

MUSIC Bring your ripped jeans and dirty flannel. Atlanta grungers Royal Thunder will transport Cafe Berlin to the ’90s this Saturday. PAGE 5 ARTS & BOOKS Jean Brueggenjohann stitched together an international reputation for her competitive quilting. Her award-winning piece hangs in the National Quilt Museum in Kentucky. PAGE 6 Q&A Despite a medical condition that left him without 80 percent of his hearing, Aaron Schilb is one of Columbia’s most prolific open-mic musicians.

PAGE 30 COVER DESIGN: MADALYNE BIRD COVER ILLUSTRATION: LISHAN GUO

CHRISTINE JACKSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

320 LEE HILLS HALL COLUMBIA MO 65211 EDITORIAL: 573-884-6432 vox@missouri.edu ADVERTISING: 573-882-5714 CIRCULATION: 573-882-5700 TO SUBMIT A CALENDAR EVENT: email vox@missouri.edu or submit via online form at voxmagazine.com TO RECEIVE VOX IN YOUR INBOX: sign up for email newsletter at voxmagazine.com

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I spend most of my time surrounded by strong, opinionated women. I’m related to several. I’m friends with more. I work with a dozen.

One such woman came to me and our deputy editor with an idea several months ago. She wanted us to tackle the constant debate over women’s reproductive rights by doing a story about what it’s like to be a Planned Parenthood escort.

But that debate is comprised of many voices, and one story wasn’t going to do it justice. If the magazine seems a little thicker than normal this week, you’re right. Twenty-one pages of this 32-page issue are dedicated to women’s reproductive services, especially abortion, and the often-uncomfortable conversations that surround them.

Twelve writers, including myself, spent the past three months exploring the gray areas of issues that are often painted in black and white. We’ve spoken to local church members (Page 12) and those who teach high schoolers about reproductive health (Page 27). We’ve spoken to the anti-abortion protesters outside Planned Parenthood (Page 19) and the escorts and employees who provide patients with care (Pages 17 and 15). We’ve spoken to people who’ve made the choice to have an abortion (Page 21) and those who would prefer that choice wasn’t an option (Pages 19 and 25). Art, culture, law, education, religion, health — they’re all represented here.

One story was never going to be enough, but I’m hoping 14 do the job. At the very least, I want these stories to start conversations — not arguments, shouting matches or monologues, but actual conversations.

I know it can be hard, but here’s hoping.

VOX STAFF Editor: Christine Jackson Deputy Editor: Dan Roe Managing Editor: Madison Fleck Creative Director: Madalyne Bird Digital Managing Editor: Abby Holman Art Directors: Mary Hilleren, Elizabeth Sawey Photo Editor: Annaliese Nurnberg Online Editor: Lea Konczal Multimedia Editor: Mitchel Summers News & Insight Editors: Madelyne Maag, Elaina Steingard, Jing Yang The Scene Editors: Lauren Kelliher, Alyssa Salela, Danielle Zoellner Music Editors: John Heniff, Taylor Ysteboe Arts & Books Editors: Claudia Guthrie, Renee Molner, Zachary Van Epps Contributing Writers: Corin Cesaric, Gerard Edic, Emily Hannemann, Max Havey, Lis Joyce, Meghan Lally, Rick Morgan, Rachel Phillips, Jessica Rendall, Karlee Renkoski, Tyler Schneider, Kelsie Schrader, Erika Stark, Samantha Stokes, Catherine Wheeler Editorial Director: Heather Lamb Executive Editor: Jennifer Rowe Digital Director: Sara Shipley Hiles Writing Coach: Berkley Hudson Office Manager: Kim Townlain

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM SALTER/AP, PIXABAY

NEWS & INSIGHT

The fruits of their labor Visit these local farms and markets for the season’s freshest produce

BY HANNAH TURNER

Missouri has the second most farms in the nation totaling at 107,825, according to the missourieconomy.org.

As summer approaches, we picked four fruit farms and picking locations that are close to home with berries and vegetables in season and ready for you to pick up.

If you’re looking for variety: Columbia Farmers’ Market

The market features more than 80 vendors with a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, baked goods and more. “Asparagus just started showing up at market,” says executive director of the market Corrina Smith.

“You can also find other spring veggies such as radishes, beets, lettuces, greens, green onions, leeks, as well as a few winter root veggies, such as sweet potatoes and winter squashes.”

Make your time to visit: Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on 1701 W. Ash St. from March 18 to Nov.18; Wednesdays 4­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­–6 p.m. at 1701 W. Ash St. and Thursdays from 3–6 p.m. at 3900 Forum Blvd. from May through October Where to go: 1701 W. Ash St. Contact: 823-6889

If you’re looking for a place to give back: Columbia’s Urban Farm

Since 2010, this farm has contributed fresh produce to food pantries around Columbia. Tony Minnick, the center representative, says the farm is not open to the public but always looking for help. “Volunteers come weekly on a contractual basis and learn the basics of gardening, including how to harvest the various different crops that we donate,” Minnick says.

Visitors can also take produce from a small refrigerator called the Honesty Market at the front of the farm. People leave the money for vegetables in a little slot near the fridge, and it works on the honor system.

Make your time to visit: Hunting volunteers April through October on Wednesday from 5 p.m. until dark Where to go: On the lot immediately north of Kilgore’s Pharmacy at 700 N. Providence Road Contact: 514-4174

If you’re looking for a day trip: Babb Blueberry Farm

This family-owned farm is an hour and 45 minutes from downtown Columbia. From mid-June to early July, blueberries are ripe for the picking. Rick Babb, the owner of the farm, says people can pick blueberries on certain days, and he will post the dates on its Facebook page. In addition to blueberries, the farm also produces salad mix, blueberry jam, spinach and broccoli. Patrons can have a picnic at the lake with their fresh produce after a long day of picking.

Make your time to visit: Picking starts in mid-June, date will be posted on the farm’s Facebook page Where to go: Located at 2751 Highway 50 Contact: 636-582-0005

If you’re looking for more than produce: Blue Shepherd Farm

Unlike other local farms, this one offers online booking and a notification email service so patrons can see what is in season and be at the farm when it is prime time for sweet fruit. Steve Andriano, the owner of the farm, says he started Blue Shepherd in 2009. Aside from harvesting the five different types of pickable blueberries the farm has, visitors can also have the experience of seeing (but not touching) purebred Black Welsh Mountain Sheep. After picking in-season strawberries and blueberries, people can have lamb meat or raw fleece as a quality souvenir to remember this trip.

Make your time to visit: Mid-May to June Where to go: 3601 Route J, Rocheport Contact: 864-2452 PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF KRISTIN FRAZIER, CORRINA SMITH, RICK BABB AND STEVE ANDRIANO

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THE SCENE

Raising the bar

Columbia’s tables, bars and light fixtures have stories of their own

BY KELSIE SCHRADER It’s Friday night — finally. You’re out with friends, and everyone is leaning against the bar or sitting at a table while contemplating what food or drink to order.

You’re ready to kick back, relax and enjoy. You probably have no idea, though, that the bar you’re leaning on was carefully constructed from wood that decorated a schoolhouse in Kansas City more than 100 years ago or that the club’s decorations were scrupulously crafted by a hard-working local.

If you look past the drinks, servers and meals, you’ll find locally sourced and custom-made pieces that dedicated individuals poured hours of thought and work into. Here are some of the handcrafted pieces to give a second glance to the next time you hit the town.

BARS AT CAFE BERLIN It only makes sense that Cafe Berlin, a restaurant that serves local, made-to-order food, also features custom-built bars handmade by a Cafe Berlin employee.

Pete Hansen built the two bars for the eatery, and they stand strong throughout brunch rushes and nighttime music shows. “We like to use local people whenever we can for whatever jobs we can,” says Beth Stanifer, front-of-house manager for Cafe Berlin.

WE LIKE TO USE LOCAL PEOPLE WHENEVER WE CAN FOR WHATEVER JOBS WE CAN. – BETH STANIFER CAFE BERLIN FRONT-OF-HOUSE MANAGER When employees discovered their co-worker was also a woodworker, it was the perfect fit. Buying local is just what seems right to Stanifer and others at Cafe Berlin. “Our friends are the people who live in this community,” she says. “We want to support them in whatever business endeavors they have rather than big corporations. We’d like to provide livings for middle-class people who work here rather than making the rich people richer.”

BAR AND TABLES AT LOGBOAT BREWING COMPANY Walk into Logboat Brewing Company and, after your nose fully takes in the delicious scent of beer, your eyes immediately land on the beautiful wooden tables, bar, siding and more throughout the building. Although the wood might look sleek and new, it’s been around since 1909. Patrick McDaniel, senior sales associate at Elmwood Reclaimed Timber near Kansas City, reclaimed the wood from Horace Mann School — an old elementary schoolhouse over the Kansas state line.

Rather than letting the wood go to waste, McDaniel made it into something new and beautiful — a 20-foot bar and tabletops that can be found throughout the 4

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brewery. Not only does using the reclaimed wood give the brewery a more interesting story, but also it’s good for the environment and for companies. “It rounds out their culture, and it looks great,” he says.

CHANDELIER AT MY HOUSE NIGHTCLUB AND SPORTS BAR Next time you’re waiting in line to get your groove on at My House, look up. The custom-made steel chandelier hanging outside the club’s front door is an example of time and dedication Columbian Emmett Russell, owner of Russellbilt, puts into all of his projects.

He likes being able to express himself, be creative and make a living at the same time. “I enjoy being able to produce something that not only fits their needs but they’re happy with,” Russell says. He works out of his two-car garage, which gives him time to spend with his family. Working with designer Lori Pewitt at Interior Design Associates, Russell built the chandelier, and he plans to work on future projects for My House as well.

His custom work at My House and other businesses around town, such as Barred Owl Butcher & Table, are proof of his dedication to both his work and family.

TOP: Cafe Berlin’s two bars were built by Pete Hansen, an employee at the restaurant.

ABOVE LEFT: Emmett Russell built the chandelier that hangs over the entrance of My House Nightclub and Sports Bar. The fixture is made out of steel.

ABOVE RIGHT: All the woodwork in the taproom at Logboat Brewing Company is reclaimed from local areas. The bar top is from an elementary school in Kansas City.

PHOTOS BY CLAIRE ROUNKLES AND MONIQUE WOO

MUSIC

Ready to rock with Royal Thunder Party like it’s 1994 with this Atlanta alt-rock band

BY EMMA BEYER

The guttural vocals of Royal Thunder are a time HEART, “BARRACUDA,” ALBUM: warp back to the ’90s. With shouting choruses and LITTLE QUEEN thundering guitar riffs, the band’s music is a mashup of Killer female vocals are not common in the rock ’n’ roll, punk and metal. male-dominated rock genre. However, Royal Lead singer Mlny Parsonz says the band’s sound Thunder’s frontwoman, Mlny Parsonz, has is “an unpredictable dance between sound waves and a soulful, husky voice that is a staple of the soul.” After more than 10 years in Royal Thunder sound. the music business, the four-piece Although Parsonz says “it’s ROYAL THUNDER band has gained critical acclaim for important to me that my Cafe Berlin its new album, Wick. The quartet will sex doesn’t factor into my May 6, 8 p.m. draw from this album and its four art,” it’s undeniable that her $10 in advance, $12 day of other releases at its upcoming show powerful vocals are rare. cafeberlincomo.com in Columbia. “Cafe Berlin has been Heart is a perfect having unique, throwback shows,” example of head-banging says Em Downing, talent buyer for Cafe Berlin. “We’re female rock. “Barracuda” combines charging always look for unique events like that to host.” instrumentals with piercing vocal vibrato.

So, throw on your ripped skinnies, band tee and Listen closely, and you’ll hear parallels The band’s name originated when its first drummer mistook Bob Dylan’s flannel, and check out these classic hits that have between Parsonz and lead singer Ann Wilson’s tour “Rolling Thunder” for Royal Thunder. inspired Royal Thunder over the years. haunting “oooh” and screaming “ahhs.”

NIRVANA, “LOUNGE ACT,” ALBUM: NEVERMIND

Royal Thunder’s sound embodies the raspy, primal vibe of classic grunge, and there’s no better way to get into the grunge spirit than with Nirvana. With hypnotic, repetitive bass chords and a progression from grumbling vocals to screeching lyrics, “Lounge Act” is both memorable and raw. Royal Thunder guitarist Josh Weaver lists this song as one of his inspirations.

ALICE IN CHAINS, “ROOSTER,” ALBUM: DIRT

Following the husky, raw vocals from Royal Thunder and Heart, check out Alice in Chain’s hit, “Rooster.”

The track showcases vocals similar to “Barracuda” and “Lounge Act.” However, this song takes on darker and more personal lyrics. The band’s electric guitar riffs cement Alice in Chains in the metal scene and move it away from traditional grunge. Royal Thunder knows how to walk this line between grunge and heavy metal.

Get the story on Columbia’s latest showings.

MOVIE REVIEWS VoxMagazine.com

ROYAL THUNDER, “APRIL SHOWERS” ALBUM: WICK Starting with soft percussion and instrumental leads, the song slowly progresses into heavier rock. From the start, Parsonz brings an emotional purity, crying “you were never really innocent.” The track proves to Royal Thunder fans that the band has a newer, polished sound without losing their dark, brooding nature.

KOPN 89.5fm...Where Else?

Monday thru Friday National Programming Line-up...

Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman 8-9am and Noon-1pm

The Diane Rehm Show 9-11am

Fresh Air with Terry Gross 11am-Noon On your radio dial at 89.5 fm or live streaming at kopn.org PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY SCIARRETTO

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ARTS & BOOKS

Thread of creation Jean Brueggenjohann has won more than 100 awards for her quilted works

BY GERARD EDIC

After starting with simple quilt blocks, Jean Brueggenjohann became enthralled with quilting while living in Los Angeles in 1991. She saw it as similar to her work with graphic design. Both graphic design and quilting use grids, except with quilting, a tangible object, fabric, is involved.

Since Brueggenjohann’s beginnings as a student in a quilting class, she has advanced to a seasoned professional. She now submits her works to quilting competitions. In April, she was named a runner-up in an international competition for her quilt work “On the Wings of Eternity.”

The quilt is currently being displayed at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. Brueggenjohann says this has been the highest honor she’s received for her quilts.

Having her work displayed at the National Quilt Museum was no small feat. Only 18 quilt works were picked from across the world to be displayed at the museum. One of the mandates for the competition was to feature the flying geese quilt pattern, a traditional and popular pattern among quilters that consists of a succession of triangles.

Brueggenjohann uses a sewing machine but hand stitches to add decorative aspects of the piece. She guesses she has made between 40 to 50 quilts and has won more than 100 awards.

Her projects always begin as a concept that she roughly sketches out. She then makes a more detailed sketch of each section of the quilt and decides on colors. Then Brueggenjohann creates the background, either out of one large fabric or several smaller pieces; adds the stuffing, called batting; attaches the front pieces and binds all three layers together. It can take up to nine or 10 months for a piece to be completed.

BRUEGGENJOHANN’S QUILT WAS ONE OF 18 CHOSEN INTERNATIONALLY TO BE DISPLAYED IN THE NATIONAL QUILT MUSEUM IN KENTUCKY. “It’s very exciting to have my work displayed with the best of the best,” Brueggenjohann says. But she is far from the only talented quilter in the area.

Brueggenjohann is a member of the Booneslick Trail Quilters’ Guild, a group that boasts quilters of all experience, from novices to those who’ve published quilting books abroad.

Debbie Odor is a member of the Booneslick Guild, having joined in 2015 when she and her husband moved to Columbia from Memphis.

Although Odor only considers herself an amateur quilter, she’s been able to produce an array of quilts, 6

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Brueggenjohann’s piece “On the Wings of Eternity” will be featured at the National Quilting Museum until June 20.

including a 100-by-100-inch piece focusing on the Star of Bethlehem.

Odor differs from other quilters in that she uses an embroidery machine to do her quilting, a callback to her days as an engineer. Most quilters stick to the traditional method of hand sewing or use a long arm machine, a type of sewing machine that allows for the thicker material of quilts.

Odor doesn’t share Brueggenjohann’s passion for competitions. “I like to do what I like to do,” Odor says. Additionally, Odor doesn’t like the rush and pressure competitions bring to quilting. “Whenever it gets done it gets done,” she says.

Take up quilting with a visit to one of these local shops: Appletree Quilting Center 2541 Bernadette Drive, 446-2655 Mon.–Thurs. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 1–4 p.m.

Quilt 4U 908 Rainforest Parkway, 443-7858 Tues.–Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Satin Stitches 705 Vandiver Drive, 817-0006 Mon.­­–Thurs. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Sundays

PHOTOS BY NADAV SOROKER AND COURTESY OF JAMES REESE

find out how trees protect our water - www.TREESWORK.org

NEVERTHELESS 44 YEARS AFTER ROE V. WADE, THE TOPIC OF WOMEN’S

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH REMAINS A HOTBED OF PUBLIC DEBATE

THEY PERSIST

P

Providence Road is the only visible gulf between the Planned Parenthood Columbia Health Center and the My Life Clinic across the street.

And yet it serves as a symbolic partition. In February, a crowd of 300 people picked sides: on the Planned Parenthood sidewalk, rows of abortion-rights defenders with pink signs — “Health Care Happens Here” — demanded reproductive rights for women. On the opposite side, chants: “Pro-choice, that’s a lie, babies never choose to die!” Between them, the stretch of gray concrete is no man’s land. It’s no woman’s land. It’s no child’s land.

This is an emotional struggle, no matter where a protester stands.

In July 2015, the Columbia clinic announced it would resume abortion services after a three-year hiatus.

The news arrived as the Center for Medical Progress, an opposing organization of abortion-rights, unleashed a series of edited videos filmed surreptitiously of Planned Parenthood employees in California, Colorado and Texas. Abortion-rights opponents used this footage as evidence that Planned Parenthood illegally profited from abortion. The videos were widely debunked, and no illegal activity was discovered.

In response to those videos, Missouri’s Senate Interim Committee on the Sanctity of Life, formed by Rep. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia dug an elbow into the ribs of MU leadership. Already facing campus-wide unrest, MU surrendered to the pressure and discontinued the “refer and follow” privileges with University Hospital that granted

Planned Parenthood’s new abortion doctor a license.

More than a year later, on April 19, 2017, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against abortion restrictions in Missouri.

Two restrictions were deemed unconstitutional, including the “refer and follow” rule that required doctors have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic in order to perform abortions. Thus, Columbia’s Planned Parenthood can now resume abortion services.

The clinic has not yet announced a timeline for this.

Despite such changes, tensions and demonstrations continue. In the foreground of a photo snapped in December 2016, Reneé Maxwell stands guard outside Planned Parenthood. She’s dressed as a vulva, the hot pink costume draped across her torso and stretched over her head like a hood. Beside her, Maxwell’s husband, Stephen Andsager, dons a costume shaped like a condom.

This photo, posted on The Guild of Silly Heathens’ Facebook page in December 2016, is a symbol of Maxwell’s rebellion. The guild, which she founded in spring 2015, brings together abortion-rights supporters to obstruct abortion-rights protests with street theater and satire.

The abortion-rights opponents “are not welcome on that sidewalk,” Maxwell says. She has lived a block away from Columbia’s Planned Parenthood for 13 years. She’s defending a piece of home.

Every year, more than 2.4 million clients are served by Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains CEO Laura McQuade says more than 80 percent of clinic services are preventative in nature. But what often frustrates McQuade is how, despite the clinic being the largest unified health care provider in the country, it is characterized as the counterpart of much smaller opposition groups such as Missouri Right to Life.

“We do not consider ourselves equal to those who stand outside and shout at our patients,” McQuade says.

But the concern of abortion-rights

opponents is not without foundation.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s No. 1 abortion provider. To those who believe terminating pregnancies is morally reprehensible, this is unacceptable.

Kristen Wood, president of Mizzou Students for Life, wore a shirt that read “former embryo” during the protests at Planned Parenthood this February. She has attended many abortion-rights protests, including the last seven March for Life events in Washington, D.C. Wood says she became an abortion-rights opponent only after reading about, “how demeaning and horrible (abortion) is.” She says the abortion-rights opposition is a pro-women viewpoint.

She argues that the focus should not be on access to abortion but on eliminating the “crisis” in crisis pregnancies.

Although Wood is Catholic, her group is a secular organization working to dispel misconceptions about abortion. She says one of her group’s most important tasks is to encourage healthier dialogue.

But for groups like the Guild of Silly Heathens, achieving dialogue is a Herculean task. Instead, the guild seeks to highlight what gets lost in the debate: women trying to access care.

That’s why in February, the Heathens decorated the Planned Parenthood sidewalk, at the edge of no man’s land, with pink chalk. A simple reminder to all was etched by the clinic’s front door: “You are loved.”

Within this issue, 12 Vox reporters have examined the gray areas of this debate. They’ve consulted local churches, tackled sex education in schools and analyzed the complicated legal issues that dictate abortion law today. They’ve explored the facts and fiction surrounding Planned Parenthood as well as the ideals that unite its opposition.

What follows is a tough but necessary conversation about the state of women’s reproductive health in Missouri in 2017.

—

STORIES BY chloe castleberry keeley dority mitchell forde savanna heiney christine jackson mia johnson theresa nguyen lauren puckett liz ramos katie roberts anna sutterer taylor twellman

by lauren puckett

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A CULTURAL HISTORY of ABORTION Exploring the links between abortion law and pop culture

pop culture events

For as long as abortion has been debated in American courtrooms, it has appeared in movies, TV shows and music. As attitudes toward abortion have evolved — and devolved — in the past 100 years, so has pop culture’s depiction of it. But has pop culture’s portrayal of the issue been a reaction to American legal changes, or have legal changes resulted from the attitudes portrayed on screen and in music? Read Vox’s timeline, and decide for yourself.

Where Are My Children (May 1916): The silent film was one of the first to feature abortion in its plot. A district attorney discovers his wife had an abortion without his knowledge.

The wife is remorseful and unable to conceive again.

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An amendment to the Motion Picture Code states abortion could not be depicted and the word “abortion” could not be used in movies.

The 1956 amendment to the Motion Picture Code banning the word “abortion” from movies is lifted.

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Hawaii becomes the first state to repeal its criminal abortion law by allowing abortions during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

New York, Alaska and Washington follow suit before the Roe v. Wade decision.

All My Children (1973): Eleven months after Roe v. Wade, a character on the show became the first TV character to undergo a legal abortion.

A Missouri law requiring a woman to seek her husband’s consent to get an abortion is overturned in Planned Parenthood v.

Danforth.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (August 1982): Teen Stacy Hamilton gets an abortion. The abortion scene was deleted from theatrical showings but added back for TV rebroadcasts. Although Stacy vomits after seeing a newborn and a dead body in a hospital, she is presented as happy afterward.

Supreme Court rulings in Beal v. Doe and Maher v.

Roe uphold states’ rights to withhold Medicaid funding from abortions deemed “non-therapeutic.”

“Back Alley Surgery”

by Malvina Reynolds (1977): The lyrics make clear Reynolds’ discontent with Beal v. Doe and Maher v. Roe: “None of them ever suffers pregnancies/ So they hand out decisions such as these/ Back alley abortions for the poor.”

1989

In Harris v. McRae, the Supreme Court upholds the Hyde Amendment to the Social Security Act, which allowed Medicaid funding for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.

1987

The Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark case Roe v. Wade strikes down a Texas law that made abortion illegal unless the mother’s life was threatened by her pregnancy.

1982

1977

1976

Maude (November 1972): The show’s protagonist, Maude Findley, discovers she is pregnant at age 47 and spends two episodes wrestling with whether to take the pregnancy to term. She eventually becomes the first-ever primetime TV character to have an abortion.

1973

1972

1970

1966

Love with the Proper Stranger (December 1963): A young woman gets pregnant after a one-night stand with a musician.

He takes her to a backalley abortionist, but as the procedure is about to begin, the musician becomes worried that it is not being performed by a real doctor and calls it off.

1963

1956

1916

Margaret Sanger opens the country’s first family planning clinic in Brooklyn and is subsequently arrested.

At the time, providing access to information about abortion or birth control was illegal under the Comstock Act of 1873.

(Left) Maude’s abortion in 1972 and Stacy’s abortion in 1982 (above) depict cultural attitudes a decade apart.

1980

historical/legal events

by mitchell forde

A Missouri statute that bans conducting abortions at public facilities (unless the life of the mother is at risk) is upheld by the Supreme Court in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services.

Dirty Dancing (August 1987): Penny struggles to scrounge together $250 to pay for an illegal abortion. She eventually has the procedure, but the abortionist botches it. The film criticizes the cost and safety hazards of abortions before Roe v. Wade but not abortion as a whole.

PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF MOVIECLIPS/YOUTUBE, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, AP FILE PHOTO, KEVIN WOLF/FLICKR

David Gunn, an OB-GYN who provided abortions, is shot and killed outside his clinic in Pensacola, Florida. The same year, Dr. George Tiller, the medical director of Women’s Health Care Services, is shot in Wichita, Kansas, but survives.

A Nebraska law banning “partial-birth abortions” is struck down in Stenberg v. Carhart. The law contained no caveat for life-threatening situations and was worded so that it could have led to other abortion methods being banned.

Dr. George Tiller is shot a second time and killed at his church in Wichita, Kansas.

The Supreme Court upholds Bush’s Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in the case Gonzalez v.

Carhart. The ruling reverses that of Stenberg v. Carhart.

Call the Midwife (February 2013): An impoverished mother in 1950s England finds out she is pregnant with her ninth child.

Desperate to terminate the pregnancy, she gets an illegal abortion. The abortion scene shows her writhing in agony on a wooden kitchen table. The episode drew backlash for its graphic depiction of the abortion, according to an August 2014 Huffington Post article.

1990 1992 1993 1994 2000 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2010 2013 2014 2016 2017

“Miracle” by Whitney Houston (1990): According to a 1991 interview with Houston in Jet Magazine, the song is about a woman who had an abortion and later felt like she made a mistake, although Houston said she didn’t sing it with any political agenda in mind.

President George W. Bush signs the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. The act is struck down by several lower courts citing the 2000 precedent of Stenberg.

In Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court declares two restrictions placed on abortion centers by a Texas law unconstitutional.

On April 5, two similar restrictions were suspended in Missouri.

In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, states are permitted to enact limiting statutes on abortions as long as they don’t create an “undue burden.”

Examples of acceptable statutes are a 24-hour waiting period, pre-abortion counseling and parental consent for minors.

Knocked Up (June 2007): A young television journalist finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with a stereotypical slacker. It drew criticism for never actually mentioning the word “abortion.”

Instead, one of the characters refers to it as “the A-word” and “shmashmortion.”

“Red Rag Top” by Tim McGraw (2002): The song tells the story of a summer romance between a 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman that results in an unplanned pregnancy. The two decide to get an abortion, and their relationship fades.

“Get your Gunn” by Marilyn Manson (1994); “Song X” by Neil Young (1995); “Wisdom is Watching” by Carrie Newcomer (1995); “FDK (Fearless Doctor Killers)” by Mudhoney (1995): All four songs were written to denounce the 1993 murder of abortion doctor David Gunn.

“Happy Birthday”

by Flipsyde (2005): Rapper Flipsyde sings an emotional happy birthday to his unborn child. “I paid for the murder before they determined the sex/ Choosing our life over your life meant your death.”

PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CHARLIE RIEDEL/AP, PBS/ROTTEN TOMATOES, UNIVERSAL/ROTTEN TOMATOES, JORDAN STRAUSS/AP, STEVE HELBER/AP, FIRENZE/FLICKR

Obvious Child (January 2014): Donna Stern gets pregnant after a one-night stand and schedules an abortion with Planned Parenthood. She struggles with how to tell the father, who ends up being supportive. The movie has been praised for focusing on the difficulties surrounding abortions, such as how to tell family members and discussing abortions publicly.

Friday Night Lights (July 2010): Sixteen-year-old Becky must decide how to handle an unplanned pregnancy with a fellow high school student.

The character who gets her pregnant suggests the pair raise the child together.

Becky ultimately decides she cannot emotionally or financially care for a child and seeks an abortion.

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Abortion and the church:

COLUMBIA’S FAITHFUL Local church-goers find nuance in religion-based discussions about women’s reproductive choices by photos 12

ANNA SUTTERER

by LUKE BRODARICK

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eligious communities tend to be labeled as abortion-rights opponents because those who picket outside Planned Parenthood clinics typically make their argument based on faith. Local congregations are not internally uniform in their beliefs, and few leaders speak directly from their pulpits about abortion.

Vox talked with people from three Columbia churches to reveal how varied the discussions of faith and abortion can be.

unitarian universalist church of columbia location: 2615 shepard blvd.

In September 2015, several dozen Unitarian Universalist Church members joined more than 800 people in MU’s Speaker’s Circle for a #PinkOut rally.

Their reverend, Molly Housh Gordon, delivered a speech. She wore a pink Planned Parenthood T-shirt with a black blazer over her pregnant belly.

“I stand with Planned Parenthood because my faith tells me that every person deserves the dignity

People gathered in Jefferson City to march around the Capitol building to protest abortion rights in February 2017. After the march, protesters gathered inside to listen to speakers.

of compassionate health care,” she said.

Humanism is the central theological perspective of the Unitarian church, Gordon says. It involves a complete belief in people to make good choices for themselves and no singular holy text for reference.

“We engage in a rigorous kind of journey of asking questions and discerning truths, and that is hard and challenging work,” she says.

Downstairs, in the church’s high school youth group room, evidence of this work is written on the walls. Scrawled words read: “These marks humans leave are too often scars,” and “RADICAL WELCOME.” In their bunker-like flophouse, students ask questions and engage in theoretical discussions. Last year, they led a Sunday service for the whole congregation about Planned Parenthood.

The students gathered stories from women who had abortions to save their own lives, women who’d been raped and terminated the resulting pregnancies, and women who visited Planned Parenthood and liked being trusted with their choices.

national , historical responses

There is a long history of abortion-rights supporters with faith.

In 1967, an underground network of rabbis and ministers who were concerned with unsafe abortion injuries and deaths formed the Clergy Consultation Service in New York City. In six years, they helped hundreds of thousands obtain access to safe but illegal abortions in America.

The organization, renamed the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice after Roe v.

Wade passed in 1973, now includes religious organizations, ordained clergy, lay people and nonbelievers in its national, inter-faith outreach. It provides religious leaders with counseling training and theological talking points.

Another national organization, the Human Coalition, began in 2007.

It creates church toolkits to help leaders start conversations from an abortion-rights opponent’s perspective. Any woman can access Human Coalition’s services through a call center, which attempts to turn phone conversations or text messages into appointments at alternative pregnancy centers near the caller.

The coalition owns seven Women’s Care Clinics across the nation and has most of its local activity in cities including Atlanta, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Raleigh, North Carolina.

PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF

Jamila Batchelder leads the students’ religious education. She says abortion can’t be talked about in abstract rules. Each person’s story is authentic.

sacred heart catholic church location: 105 waugh st.

Father Francis Doyle picketed and prayed outside Planned Parenthood until 2015, when abortions in Columbia stopped. Some members in his congregation think they should be there all the time. Doyle is skeptical — the public could become numbed to their message. Seminary trained Doyle to be clear yet sensitive from the pulpit and in person.

“That’s not a time to accuse them; it’s a time to listen to them,” Doyle says. He says abortion is objectively wrong, and no argument would change his core beliefs.

After Sunday morning mass, Kendra Clark, a 25-year-old woman pregnant with her first child, sits with her husband to enjoy free coffee and doughnuts. She says she thinks the congregation’s older crowd, which tend to be more conservative, and the younger, perhaps more liberal crowd should discuss abortion together.

Kendra says she wishes “pro-choice” didn’t have to mean “pro-abortion.” She would always choose life unless a doctor told her the baby would not live long and would live in pain.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had this discussion,” she says, turning to her husband, Joshua Clark. “I think I would have mercy on their soul by just ending their life sooner while they’re within the warmth and love (of my body).”

Joshua sighed heavily and agreed. Even if the baby were kept comfortable in hospice, Kendra Clark is not sure.

“This is the safest my child will ever be is inside me right now,” she says.

missouri united methodist church location: 204 s. 9th st.

On Tuesday evenings, a group of about a dozen students

gather for Ignite, a Bible Prior to the gathering study in the colossal cement in the Capitol, these brick building. Their leader, abortion-rights opponents Kim Parker, has counseled participated in March for Life in Jefferson young people through City. According to an adoptions and abortions, article in The Maneater, and uses United Methodist event organizers say traditions that she says that around 800 people embrace life’s attended the march. gray areas.

“We give room, we give sacred space, we give safe space for people to be who they are,” she says.

Parker wears a zip-up hoodie, jeans and sneakers to an Ignite meeting. She brings up the abortion conversation with intern and MU student Madison Denton.

Denton says reading the Bible in historical context and dialoguing with others is important to confronting women’s rights issues in the church.

“If (abortion) is what happens, God’s going to move in that situation regardless,” Denton says. “We’re called to love that person regardless of the choice they make.”

Denton invited another MU student Caylan Torbett to give a more conservative perspective.

Torbett grew up attending nondenominational churches in Texas. She sees sex as an adult decision with consequences to prepare for, including financial responsibilities and physical changes. In circumstances of rape, however, she understands the choice to terminate.

She says she doesn’t know if she could live with such a situation. Torbett says she likes the progressive Methodist church and hopes to see changes back home.

“How you experience faith is related to the people around you,” Torbett says. “If you have people who are encouraging you to make the best decision regardless of the circumstance, then you’re going to grow more because that’s what Christianity should look like.”

Ignite is still testing topics for discussion, says Denton, and abortion isn’t off the table.

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Norma McCorvey (left) went by Jane Roe during the landmark court case Roe v.

Wade. She holds a sign in protest with attorney Gloria Allred at the Supreme Court in 1989.

LAYING OUT THE LAW, then and now

Understand how the laws and rulings of reproductive health’s past and present affect Missouri’s future by

MIA JOHNSON

the hyde amendment

In 1976, Congress created provisions that would bar federal funding from covering abortions through Medicaid reimbursements. The law, known as the Hyde Amendment, only allows these funds to cover abortions in cases of rape, incest or if missouri the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. abortion This past January, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would act as an extension to the law Hyde Amendment. This extension would ensure that insurance companies are officially prohibited In addition to TRAP laws, from covering abortions. Three Missouri House some of the statutes of representatives co-sponsored the bill, including U.S. the state’s abortion laws Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville. include: missouri law

griswold v. connecticut

One of the first establishing laws for women’s reproductive rights was Griswold v.

Connecticut in 1965. Griswold, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and her colleagues were convicted under a state law that made offering contraceptives to married couples illegal. The right to privacy is guaranteed by the collective interpretation of the Bill of Rights with the Supreme Court establishing that privacy is a fundamental right for married couples. The new idea of “penumbral” rights helped to strike down Connecticut’s law. roe v. wade

In 1973, Norma McCorvey, who went by “Jane Roe” during the case, argued the Texas state law preventing her from getting an abortion violated her constitutional rights.

After the court ruled against Henry Wade, the Dallas County District Attorney, Wade filed an appeal and took the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in McCorvey’s favor, citing a “zone of privacy” as the deciding factor. This zone includes marriage, contraception and child rearing, which means the zone was just broad enough to encompass a woman’s right to an abortion.

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In November 2015, Columbia’s Planned Parenthood stopped offering abortion services. Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, communications director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, says state laws are responsible for the recent conflict; collectively these laws are known as Target Regulations of Abortion Providers. One part of these laws requires doctors to admit patients to a specified hospital. For Columbia’s abortion-providing doctor at the time, that was the University Hospital. Another portion of the law called for specific regulations of room sizes such as hallways and closets for that hospital if they were to admit patients. Once MU Health Care discontinued its “refer and follow” privileges for the abortion-providing doctor in 2015, a legal battle ensued. In April, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against these abortion restrictions, so Planned Parenthood clinics can resume abortion services.

•

Waiting 72 hours between signing the state’s required consent forms to have an abortion and having the procedure performed

•

Abortion becoming illegal after 21 weeks, 6 days from the date of conception, unless the mother’s life is in danger

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Barring the use of public facilities, employees or funds for abortion, unless to save the mother’s life

PHOTO COURTESY OF LORIE SHAULL

BEYOND THE DOOR Outside of the protests, the headlines and the controversy, this is what really happens inside Planned Parenthood

LIZ RAMOS photos by ERIN ACHENBACH by

P

lanned Parenthood nurse practitioner Marisa Ward walks out of room two in the Columbia Health Center and into the white-walled lab. She stares at a file, shakes her head slightly and lets out a deep sigh of frustration.

It’s another patient who doesn’t have health insurance. She has breast pain while just sitting or standing and also pain when pressure is applied and is in need of diagnostic testing Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide. Ward racks her brain for a solution. Few places in Columbia will help patients who don’t have health insurance. She stands up and returns to the patient’s room to discuss options.

Each day, Ward sees 15 to 20 men and women ranging from age 14 to 64. “It’s tough seeing some people for a while and getting attached to them,” she says. “You want the best for them, but it can be difficult knowing they probably aren’t going to be OK.” Marisa Ward, a nurse Before Ward goes practitioner at Planned to work, her 4-year-old Parenthood, looks over son, William, wakes her patient information prior up between 5 and 6 a.m. to an appointment. and asks if it’s morning.

Planned Parenthood’s Occasionally, Ward jokes Columbia Health Center and tells him it’s not, which provides hormone causes him to look outside to treatment, contraception confirm the time. and other reproductive Ward arrives at Planned health services. A Parenthood around 9 a.m. judge recently lifted the after dropping William off injunction that stopped the clinic from providing at school. Protesters outside abortion services. the black gate surrounding the building watch her while holding signs with messages such as “abortion kills babies.” Protesters have told Ward they can help her find a new job or that they will pray for her. They become an issue for Ward when they intimidate patients. She ignores them when they approach her and enters the building. While at work, most of her time when she’s not with patients is spent in the lab because of its proximity to the patient rooms and her coworkers.

Travis Aldridge, who works at the front desk, enjoys goofing around with Ward while also treating patients.

“It’s always been fun for me while working here, how although she is so professional, articulate, caring and intelligent, she is not above blowing off a little steam,” he says. “I like to try to see if I can throw her off with my questions and comments, and she just rolls with it.”

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The decision to come to Columbia started with Ward’s passion for assisting low-income families who struggle to obtain health services. “Health care is a right, not a privilege,” she says.

Ward’s move to Columbia from Mississippi caused a bit of concern in her family, who heard some of the controversy regarding Planned Parenthood. Once in a while, she receives worried phone calls about her safety and job assurance.

Patients check in at the front desk with Aldridge and wait to be called back to a room. A medical assistant asks them the purpose of their visit and, if needed, prepares them for any medical exams.

Afterward, Ward visits the patient and asks questions about previous medications, surgeries, sexual history and inter-partner violence, among other things.

When patients have health insurance and Planned Parenthood offers the services they need, Ward addresses the available options and moves forward.

If Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide the care patients need but they have insurance, Ward sends them to other local resources such as the University Hospital, Condoms and dental dams are free for visitors the Family Health and patients at Planned Center, MedZou and Parenthood. Eighty percent True North. of Planned Parenthood Appointments services nationally are can get more preventative in nature, complicated when according to Planned patients don’t have Parenthood. health insurance because the options Ward takes a brief break become more limited. between appointments “It can be frustrating with Cortney Bouse, left, and Jenna Monger. Ward that I’m one of the was motivated to work few places they can at Planned Parenthood go,” she says. “It’s because of her passion for terrible when a helping low-income families family or an adult can obtain health care. work two jobs and not be able to afford to go to a doctor or take your kids to a doctor if they’re sick.”

Around 2:30 p.m., Ward returns to the lab after a brief visit with a patient and scrolls through goodrx.com on her laptop to find the best and cheapest prescription for her patient. Comparing prices, looking up other services for her patients, as well as conducting follow-ups can cause the wait time for appointments to increase.

Ward is pursuing a doctorate in nursing from Vanderbilt University online with hopes of graduating in fall 2019. September will mark Ward’s seventh year with Planned Parenthood. When people ask what she does for a living, her response causes them to either ask about protesters or respond, “Good for you.”

On tougher days, when she can’t help some of her patients, Ward vents to her husband, calls her mom or talks with friends who also work in public health careers in a group chat.

Ward leaves about 30 minutes after Planned Parenthood closes. She heads home to her husband, who already has dinner cooked. After they’ve eaten, she plays with William, does some homework and checks her schedule for the next day.

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FACT OR FICTION

Myths and judgements surround Planned Parenthood. It’s time to clear up some of them.

by

MIA JOHNSON

THE MYTH: People only use Planned Parenthood for abortions.

THE FACTS: The most recent annual report from Planned Parenthood, released in December 2015, states only 3 percent of services provided through 2014-15 were abortion related, though both the anti-abortion rights organization Live Action and fact-checking website PolitiFact put that number at around 12 percent, citing a separate report. Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Laura McQuade says, “Across the board, more than 80 percent of the services that we provide are preventive in nature.” Planned Parenthood’s other services include STI testing, cancer screenings and contraception solutions. McQuade says pediatric and primary care will be provided in the near future.

THE MYTH: Federal money is used to fund all abortions at Planned Parenthood.

THE FACTS: In general, it’s illegal for federal funds to be put toward abortions though there are some exceptions. Those exceptions are outlined in the 1976 legislative provision known as the Hyde Amendment. According to congress.gov, federal dollars, via reimbursement through Medicaid, could only cover an abortion if it would save the life of the pregnant woman or in cases of rape or incest. However, 17 states allow for Medicaid to cover abortions. Missouri is not one of those states unless the abortion meets the exceptions outlined in the Hyde Amendment.

THE VOLUNTEERS wearing

THE MYTH: Planned Parenthood sells fetal body parts.

THE FACTS: In 2015, nationwide investigations ensued after an undercover video surfaced online allegedly showing a Planned Parenthood Federation of America director discussing the sale of fetal body parts.

In July 2015, former Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster started an investigation into the St. Louis Planned Parenthood.

By September 2015, the office released a 47-page document with its findings. At the conclusion of the document, it stated the information they reviewed “did not reveal any irregularities involving the transmission, examination, or disposal of fetal organs and tissue from surgical abortions performed at PPSLR.” Like other investigations in states including Indiana, Kansas and Florida, the office found the claims to be false.

THE MYTH: Planned Parenthood only serves women.

THE FACTS: Despite being known for its pregnancy services, Planned Parenthood’s services are not exclusively for women.

According to Planned Parenthood’s website, the organization addresses men’s health issues such as vasectomies and colon and prostate screenings. It covers all gender identities and sexual orientations, and some centers are even able to offer transgender people hormone treatments, McQuade says.

Currently, the Columbia center and Kansas City Metro Area Planned Parenthood offer hormone treatments. Columbia’s center offers birth control, HIV testing, STD testing, treatments and vaccinations, pregnancy testing, men’s and women’s health care and might soon offer abortion services.

PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF

BLUE SMOCKS With the help of these Planned Parenthood escorts, patients make it past protesters and into their appointments by

KATIE ROBERTS

A

illustration by

bortion-rights opponents stand against the black metal fence that outlines Planned Parenthood’s property like they do almost every day. Bonnie Lee, one of the head organizers for 40 Days for Life, distributes pamphlets and signs to her fellow believers and recites the words from the “A Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion.” They sing in

MARY HILLEREN

unison as Deacon Tom Whalen recites the scripture over a megaphone, “Have mercy on those who are this hour being prepared for an abortion. With a keen awareness of the sin they are about to commit, may they, even at this last moment, have the grace and courage to reverse their decision and spare their child.” Protesters held signs that read, “Women deserve better,” “PRAY TO END ABORTION,” and “Love Babies — born and unborn.” Some even wear shirts that read, “Smile (: You weren’t aborted.”

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PROTESTERS HELD SIGNS THAT READ, ‘WOMEN DESERVE BETTER,’ ‘PRAY TO END ABORTION,’ AND ‘LOVE BABIES — BORN AND UNBORN.’ SOME EVEN WORE SHIRTS THAT READ, ‘SMILE (: YOU WEREN’T ABORTED.’ On the other side of the fence stands a Planned Parenthood escort. Dressed in a dark blue smock that reads “PATIENT ESCORT,” the volunteer assists patients from their cars into the clinic. The volunteers are equipped with stools to sit on and pink umbrellas for both bad weather and to shield the faces of the patients for privacy. The escorts position their bodies between the protesters and patients to create a natural barrier between the clinic and the people praying on the sidewalk.

Because of escorts, the first face the patient sees is a smiling one.

John Amick, 34, began his training to become a volunteer in September 2014.

Amick is a native of Jefferson City and graduated from MU in 2007. He lives in Columbia and volunteers at the Planned Parenthood on Providence Road. He had followed state legislation and started getting involved after the 72-hour waiting period before abortion was enacted into law.

His favorite part about volunteering at Planned Parenthood is helping fellow members of his community access health care. “It sounds mundane, but basic rights are being attacked day in and day out,” Amick says. “We hear a lot about the barriers to having an abortion and exercising basic rights.”

His motivation for helping out every week is seeing the opposition standing on the other side of the fence trying to speak to patients. “Ideally there wouldn’t have to be any escorts if people could have access to health clinics,” Amick says. For him, the decision to volunteer at Planned Parenthood was clear.

Amick can tell when the patient is walking to the clinic whether they would appreciate his assistance or not. He says if the patient doesn’t want him there, he will fade into the background and allow the patient to proceed on his or her own.

The ultimate goal of the protesters is to try to have a conversation with the patient and inform them of other health care facilities that provide medical assistance. “If the patient wants to have a conversation with them, then that’s up to them,” Amick says. “I’m really just trying to be a friendly, welcoming presence.”

Escorts are taught not to approach protesters. They are trained to tell a staff member inside the clinic if a commotion is happening outside. A thick yellow line divides the private property from the sidewalk and reminds the opposition where they can protest.

There is one class required before becoming an escort. In this training, future escorts learn about the laws that affect Planned Parenthood and the services Planned Parenthood provides. Potential escorts learn they help defend a woman’s right to choose and her well-being. The informational session lasts up to three hours and includes role-play to teach the volunteers how to approach patients in the parking lot.

There are two classes provided for volunteers. The first class is required. It is a broad overview of what is expected of volunteers and the time commitment that is asked. The second class is not required but encouraged. This class focuses on abortion and how to interact with patients and the community about this topic.

But there’s more to volunteering at Planned Parenthood than escorting patients.

Cortney Bouse is the Grassroots Organizer for Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

Her job is to connect the community and supporters and get them politically engaged around reproductive justice issues. She will take supporters to lobby days, ask them to call their congressperson and get them to share their stories.

There are other things escorts can do when there aren’t many patients to escort. They’re encouraged to engage patients on public policy issues by asking for signatures on petitions or asking them to share their stories, and they assist health care staff as needed. Escorts are also able to help register members of the community to vote.

Volunteers are the bridge between the medical department and health services.

Because of volunteers, Planned Parenthood is able to attend marches, get patients into their offices safely, educate the community on numerous topics and reach out to the government for support and conversation.

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the volunteers of planned parenthood There are other opportunities to get involved with Planned Parenthood beyond escort services. In order to become a Planned Parenthood volunteer, one must fill out an application on its website (www.volunteerppgreatplains.org/ apply.html) EDUCATION VOLUNTEER: Advocate for education and health center services at community events, facilitate sex-education workshops and help with classroom preparation and instruction ADVOCACY & OUTREACH VOLUNTEER: Join a reproductive health action team for PPGP; participate in visibility events, rallies, tabling events and petition gathering and assist organizers in phone banking, data entry and special advocacy projects EVENT VOLUNTEER: Assist in day-of-event activities, become an event committee member and assist in planning and organizing events.

HEALTH CENTER/ADMINISTRATIVE VOLUNTEER: Prepare supporter mailings, provide general clerical support and assist with special office projects COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR: Represent PPGP in the community by advocating for, educating and marketing PPGP programs and health services. This requires a one-year commitment and 20+ hours of training. Ambassadors can choose to focus on education, advocacy or health services.

Standing firm

AGAINST ABORTION For abortion opponents, speaking out against Planned Parenthood is a matter of right or wrong

TAYLOR TWELLMAN photos by MICHAEL CALI by

I

n the banquet hall of the Elks Lodge in Columbia, 340 men, women and children fill the seats of round decorated tables for a family-style dinner. The theme of the night is “A Changed Life.” It’s printed on a banner which can be seen on the stage in the front of the room; it is adorned with the faces of happy babies. Carol Everett, who was the keynote speaker at the Life Network’s 26th Annual Banquet on March 9, discussed her movement in Texas where she started out working for women’s clinics that conduct abortions and ended up working against them. Before Everett was welcomed to the stage, a short video was played about a woman who got an abortion at a Planned Parenthood and became depressed for several years after.

Dan Fischbach prays the rosary along Providence Road during an anti-Planned Parenthood protest in February. Those against federal funding for Planned Parenthood chanted, held signs and prayed despite counter protests across the street.

The conference is hosted by the Life Network Organization, a group established in 1992, along with My Life Clinic, a crisis pregnancy center located across the street from the Planned Parenthood Columbia Health Center. My Life Clinic provides free services such as counseling and checkups in central Missouri.

Although the Life Network operates a health clinic that offers alternatives to abortions, similar organizations find other ways to shut out Planned Parenthood by advocating against it.

A middle-aged woman in a shirt that says “I speak for the unborn babies” stands on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood off of Providence Road.

Kathy Forck is one of the founders of Columbia’s branch of 40 Days for Life, one of the largest international groups against abortion. The organization holds a biannual 40-day prayer vigil that takes place during Lent and from the last Wednesday in September to the first Sunday in November. Participants pray for 10 hours each day outside Planned Parenthood clinics across the globe.

In Jefferson City, Bonnie Lee, who is from the same organization, engages with Missouri lawmakers and attempts to convince them to shut down Planned Parenthood in Missouri.

Forck has always felt connected to women who enter Planned Parenthood.

Her mother died in 1989, and her father revealed to her years later that she was almost aborted. “The doctor told my mother that he was going to remove some tissue, and her menstrual cycle would go back to normal because she was not really pregnant,” Forck says. Forck’s mother had been pregnant twice before, refused the doctor and said she knew she was pregnant. Forck’s father went on to tell her that when her mother was 16, she was sexually assaulted, became pregnant, and ultimately decided to have an abortion. “All of a sudden, I 05.04.17

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understood,” Forck says. “I had no idea why I felt this pull, this sense of an understanding, when I saw women line up outside the clinic.”

Lee, who is a retired nurse, has helped women in pregnancy crises by providing free housing and medical care, job placement, parenting classes, continued education and free adoption services. “I have held precious babies in my arms born when their mothers chose life, and I have held post-abortive women while they weep over the loss of their baby,” Lee says. She says she continues to devote her work to assure safe care for all women.

Lee says she feels the need to help educate elected officials as well as women who go to Planned Parenthood. “I continue my life-affirming work because I care about both the mother and the baby,” Lee says. “I testified before Missouri Senate and House hearings reporting facts of failed safety inspections of Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics.”

Forck and Lee cite a document from the St. Louis Fire Department that states there were 58 medical emergencies during which an ambulance was sent to the St. Louis Planned Parenthood — Reproductive Health Services of PPSLR. These emergencies vary and include hemorrhages, fainting and seizures, but the direct cause of these incidents are unknown. “We care about the safety of women, and we are concerned about these incidents,” Forck says.

Forck leads the closing prayer for the 40-day vigil. Despite the downpour, Lee and about 20 members huddled together with their rain ponchos, umbrellas and signs. “A little rain doesn’t scare us,” Forck says.

Holly Swartz, top left, and Margo Leitschuh chant at a support rally in February outside the Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic.

Planned Parenthood supporters began showing up around 9 a.m. while the activists against abortion arrived an about an hour later.

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THE CHOICE Robin and Jim Utz had to make a painful decision about the life of their child. Now, Robin fights for the rights of others to do the same. by

CHRISTINE JACKSON

G

race Pearl was a wanted child. She was planned and wished for and loved. On the last night she spent in the womb, Grace Pearl’s parents danced in their living room to the songs they hoped to teach her one day. But Grace Pearl wasn’t born.

THE DIAGNOSIS When St. Louis couple Robin and Jim Utz went to the hospital for their 21-week anatomy scan, they assumed everything would be normal. Having had a previous miscarriage, they had undergone next-generation sequencing to look at all the chromosomes of their embryo to reduce the risk of losing another pregnancy. Everything looked fine, and after 10 weeks of pregnancy, there was only a 1 percent chance of something going wrong. But the ultrasound technician and the obstetrician had trouble seeing the baby. The doctor had an idea of what was wrong and sent the couple to see a maternal fetal medicine doctor upstairs. High-powered imaging could better see the baby and help confirm the obstetrician’s initial diagnosis.

The couple passed the hour before their appointment with bad hospital fried rice and anxious conversation. “I remember saying to my husband as we walked to the cafeteria, ‘I was excited to be her mom,’” Robin says.

The maternal fetal medicine doctor could see the baby more clearly. There was no amniotic fluid, and she was curled up too tightly. Her kidneys were covered in cysts. Their daughter — still without her name at this point — had Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney Disease.

She would likely be stillborn, and no child with her condition had ever lived long past birth.

The doctor didn’t reveal the substantial risk to Robin’s life before the couple made their decision.

They chose what they still believe was the most compassionate option: to terminate the pregnancy.

It was Nov. 17, 2016, and Robin was 20 weeks, 6 days pregnant. Missouri law dictates that no pregnancy may be terminated after 21 weeks, 6 days and requires a 72-hour waiting period once the decision is made. They had less than a week. They would start the process the next day.

That night, Robin and Jim decided on a name: Grace Pearl. Grace because she was a “rainbow baby” — a child after a loss — and Pearl because it was the name their niece had chosen. She was excited to meet her first female cousin.

Jim and Robin Utz are advocates for the right to choose. They were spurred to action by their experience choosing to terminate their pregnancy due to a fetal anomaly.

This card is a memento for Robin and Jim Utz. The Utzs were told they would only receive footprints, but the nurses were able to get Grace Pearl’s hand prints as well.

THE PROCESS Dr. Caitlin Parks, a St. Louis OB-GYN, met the couple at an office in the city’s Central West End and PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBIN UTZ

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‘IT BASICALLY, IN MY MIND, WAS REALLY IMPLYING THAT WE WERE MURDERING HER.’ — ROBIN UTZ took them into a conference room.

She handed them some materials and clarified that they were legally required and did not reflect how the hospital or she felt about the situation.

Included were a series of consent forms confirming that they’d heard a heartbeat and seen an ultrasound — no matter that it was an ultrasound that brought them there.

Then, they were offered the Missouri Informed Consent Booklet. The booklet is produced by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Its first page states in large, bold type: “The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being.” The couple chose not to accept the booklet.

“It basically, in my mind, was really implying that we were murdering her,” Robin says. “That was kind of the last straw for me, where I was just like, ‘I feel so insulted.’” That meeting began the 72-hour clock leading up to the termination.

The time between the paperwork is blurry for Robin. Grief made her memories of those three days unclear.

She knows there were friends, puzzles and songs her husband would have taught their daughter. The day before the procedure, when her cervix was being expanded, Robin didn’t want to take ibuprofen to ease the pain. She was pregnant, after all. And Advil can hurt the baby.

On Nov. 23, 2016, a surgeon cut Grace Pearl’s umbilical cord, which allowed her to die quietly in her mother’s womb. Robin was listening to the playlist made for Grace Pearl when it happened.

The doctors had told her to bring headphones because she wouldn’t be fully unconscious during the procedure.

She hoped that, somehow, Grace Pearl would be able to hear it through her.

Before the procedure, when she was waiting and shivering on the table, Robin says she felt compelled to speak to her surgeon. They hadn’t met before, and she had to tell him something: “I need you to know that we really wanted her.”

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THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE There is currently no exception to Missouri’s law in the case of fetal anomalies such as Grace Pearl’s. Had Robin and Jim found out about Grace Pearl’s condition any later, they would have had to leave the state to terminate.

Compared to many women, Robin was lucky. She’ll tell you that. Her Minnesota-based company’s health insurance covered the procedure. Had it not been covered, the Utzs would have been able to pay and go to Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, which was the sole clinic in Missouri that could perform abortions at the time.

Elizabeth Nash, a policy analyst at the Guttmacher Institute, a national nonprofit that tracks state policies regarding reproductive health and rights issues in the U.S., Jim Utz poses knows the Utzs’ situation with Sen. Claire was uncommon. She says McCaskill, D-Mo. abortion coverage in He shared his health insurance used to be “There’s this laundry list and Robin’s story routine. However, since the of actions that are pending with McCaskill advent of the Affordable in the legislature,” Nash says. and 75 Missouri Care Act, legislators have “There are also efforts to try constituents in made it difficult to use to roll back some of these March 2017. abortion coverage. It is often restrictions. But it’s hard to restricted to use in cases of get traction around those rape, incest or life endangerment of the issues because most of the legislators are mother. Some states, including Missouri, just very conservative.” allow women to pay for a rider, or an Robin is now creating traction and addition to a policy, that covers abortion. advocating for women’s rights to make “It’s ludicrous,” Nash says. “Nobody the same choice she did. She began with expects to have an abortion. This is sort a Jan. 6 Facebook post that detailed her of this false option because plans are not experience, which she wrote in response going to offer coverage for this, they to efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. don’t offer coverage for this, and no one It was shared more than 5,000 times and would think to purchase it.” picked up by sites such as ATTN, The These limits to coverage, when Daily Mail and Babble. Later that month, paired with cost and restrictions, make it she launched DefendingGrace.org to difficult — sometimes impossible — for share her work and others’ stories. a Missouri woman to get an abortion.

On March 10, an op-ed penned by And there are more legal hurdles in the Robin was published by The Washington pipeline.

Post. The week of March 20, a week Nash says Missouri has always set before Grace Pearl would have been legal trends in restricting women’s access due, Robin was in Washington, D.C. to to health care, and there is no indication advocate. She attended Neil Gorsuch’s the current legislature will be different.

Supreme Court confirmation hearing as The Guttmacher Institute counts 24 a guest of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, current Missouri bills that would restrict D-Ca. and delivered folders detailing women’s rights, 21 of which would hers and others’ stories to both Feinstein restrict abortion rights. and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia.

During the trip to D.C., Jim recounted their experience to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. and 75 Missouri constituents. He has also opposed House Bill 757 — which proposes a ban on abortions after 20 weeks­— in front of the House Children and Families Committee.

“My family and I deserve to have the state laws include us and those like us,” Jim told the committee. “Anomalies like Grace’s can happen at any point in a pregnancy, and it’s wrong to put a time limit on our options for addressing these anomalies.”

The couple’s story has been shared

by The New York Times and Al Jazeera, among others. It has exposed people to the conversations surrounding the possibility of a nationwide 20-week abortion ban.

Robin didn’t plan to become an advocate. But, then, Grace Pearl’s diagnosis wasn’t part of the plan either.

She continues testifying and traveling, both in Missouri and elsewhere.

“I am the example of why there needs to be compromise, and curiosity, and compassion,” Robin says. “Even if you wouldn’t make the same choice I would, I just want the right to make it.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROBIN UTZ

EDUCATION AND INFANTICIDE MU students have access to a variety of physical and mental health care resources.

But what is available for students who become pregnant? by

THERESA NGUYEN

I

t’s March 2, 1988. Melissa* is a 20-year-old freshman from Independence who is pursuing a degree from the MU College of Arts & Science. She lives with a roommate in Jones Hall, a women’s dormitory. On this Wednesday, the weather is chilly at 40 degrees, and the day has been overcast and windy.

Melissa begins to have contractions. She doesn’t call an ambulance, nor does she go to the hospital. In her sixth-floor room or in the basement bathroom, Melissa gives birth to a healthy baby boy.

There is no public record that accounts for what happened between the time Melissa gave birth and when the infant was found drowned in a toilet in the Jones Hall basement. Court documents don’t say if the baby’s death was an accident, if Melissa was alone or if she told her parents, her roommate or the baby’s father. We can only guess. There are no court documents for the two other cases of infanticide reported by the St. Louis-Post Dispatch that occurred in Columbia that same year: a Stephens College student giving birth in her dorm and her baby dying during childbirth, and the body of a newborn found in a bathroom trashcan in University Hospital. Reported cases of infanticide outline the mother and the act of a child dying but nothing more. It’s as if the mother’s pregnancy, the birth and death of the child happen in a vacuum.

Friends and classmates might not have noticed her weight gain. The baby could have been premature, or she could have gained weight over the holiday break.

But it’s unlikely that Melissa was oblivious to her own pregnancy. Women know their bodies, says MU School PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEWSPAPERS.COM AND NEWSPAPERARCHIVES.COM

of Nursing Associate Professor Tina Bloom. It’s more probable that Melissa was paralyzed by fear and unsure what to do, so she continued with her day-to-day life until suddenly, she had to face the truth.

Resources on campus are hard to find if a student does not know where to go. It’s even harder when the student isolates herself, says Valerie Bader, MU School of Nursing Associate Professor. Bader suspects Melissa lacked emotional and social support. She could have feared abandonment by her parents if she told them about her pregnancy. Bader says young women who are socially isolated and have unplanned children are more susceptible to pregnancy-related mental illnesses such as postpartum depression. Although there is no indication that Melissa suffered from it, one in seven women are expected to experience depression during pregnancy or after childbirth. Mothers who kill their children suffer from multiple stressors, according to a 2012 Behavioral Sciences and the Law article, including depression, substance abuse, social isolation, violence and poverty.

Unlike some other countries, such as the Netherlands, the U.S. does not have an infanticide law that gives mothers a less serious punishment than homicide when they kill their child under a year old.

Melissa was charged with endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree and originally pleaded not guilty. However, the proof of premeditation and deliberation in her actions were not provided. The prosecuting attorney instead said she acted with risky behavior after her son’s birth.

Melissa pleaded guilty and completed two years of probation. After her freshmen year, she did not return to MU, and it’s unclear where she is today.

Empathy is lacking in the discussion of women’s reproductive rights, Bloom says. She says the community should support, not shame, students who decide to become parents. Bloom also added that both men and women face challenges while raising children, and neither should have to choose between education and parenting.

These concerns led to the creation of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Parenting and Pregnancy Policies, which Bader and Bloom are members of.

The task force, formed in March 2017, is one of the two resources that have changed on campus to help pregnant students since Melissa gave birth in 1988.

Melissa would have had access to the Student Health Center to get a referral to an obstetrician for prenatal care. The Women’s Center and the Counseling Center were also available to provide her with parenting resources. The only other change, in addition to the task force, is the Safe Place for Newborns Act of 2002, which allows parents to leave their child in the care of hospital, police or fire officials without being charged.

The task force plans to create policies on leave for pregnant students and a space, likely in the form of a website, with comprehensive resources for pregnant and parenting students. Bloom hopes these resources will be available within the next academic year. Parenting policies might not affect everyone on campus, but the point is to help those who need them.

Bloom is often told that Columbia is a nice place to raise a family. MU should be the same way too, she says; a nice place to get an education and raise a family. *Editor’s note: Vox has chosen not to use Melissa’s full name.

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LEFT: This art piece, titled “Not a political battleground”, was created by Lori Jobe.

All proceeds from the artwork sold at the Nasty Women Art Exhibit were donated to Planned Parenthood.

ILLUSTRATING SUPPORT

TOP: Jocelyn Whitecloud created the painting titled “No one heard her as she cried out in the dark night.” All artwork at the exhibit was for sale.

Advocates rally behind women’s reproductive health rights through their crafts by

SAVANNA HEINEY

I

t’s 6 p.m. on Feb. 3, which means two things for ARTlandish Gallery: the second First Friday of 2017 and the Nasty Women Art Exhibit have both begun.

Works advocating for women’s rights and reproductive health fill the walls of the gallery’s lower level.

One sculpture depicts a woman’s torso from the navel to the neck, with a red square and white female gender symbol painted over it. Black letters stamped on the upper chest read: “This is not a political battleground.”

Music composed during the civil rights movement, signs created during the Women’s March that took place on Jan. 21 and the various works created for the Nasty Women exhibitions are just some of the ways artists comment on issues using their craft. Art sends a message to the public and aims to spur action in those who view their work.

From Feb. 3 to March 5, ARTlandish Gallery on East Walnut hosted one of the many Nasty Women exhibitions held around the world. Amid the artists, attendees and displays in the exhibition, music from folk singer-songwriter band Pippa and The Strawmen filled the gallery.

Electric guitar player Mark Ort, bass player Steve O’Dell and acoustic guitar player and singer Pippa Letsky comprise the band, which uses its music to share stories of women pushing forward despite the obstacles and disadvantages they face. O’Dell and 24

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Letsky lived down the street from one another before they started talking about music and topics they feel passionate about. Eventually, they decided to collaborate.

“People listened,” Letsky says. “It’s hard to find people that actually listen. Most people use music as a background.”

O’Dell and Letsky were inspired to advocate for Planned Parenthood because of others that rely on that healthcare.

“I think that it is an organization that the opposition has picked one very small aspect of it and has used that tiny aspect of it to distort the whole attack,” Letsky says.

O’Dell agrees that trying to silence the voices of women are among the worst things to be done for the progression of women’s reproductive rights. “As far as Planned Parenthood, if the government does defund it, it will still be paid for,” O’Dell says. “We will all gather whatever money we can to support it.”

Another set of artists who dedicated their craft to petitioning for change is Laura Clothier and Julie Nardy, who created Baked Revolution, the pop-up bake sale at the art exhibit. Clothier met Nardy working at Clover’s Natural Market and discovered they shared a common interest in supporting organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood.

“I definitely support Planned Parenthood.” Nardy says. “I have used their facilities before, and I believe

they are an incredible resource for women in every stage of life. I went for an annual exam, but the experience was great. I wouldn’t hesitate to go again.”

Clothier attended Stephens College from 2005 to 2009 and started going to Planned Parenthood because she couldn’t afford health insurance.

“Taking care of our health is critical, and Planned Parenthood most definitely helped me take care of my body,” Clothier says. “This is a matter of quality of life and equal opportunity. I want to see them keep their doors open and help women who are quite possibly disadvantaged and might not get that help otherwise.”

The platters from Baked Revolution were filled with a variety of donated confections such as chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles infused with green tea. The table also had information about the ACLU taped to the front with a sign suggesting a $2 donation for each pastry item.

“The ACLU does a lot of work to protect a woman’s right to choose.” Clothier says. “Most definitely the role they play in protecting women’s reproductive rights is part of why we chose them for our Baked Revolution sale.”

Clothier says the bake sale that night raised $665, all of which was donated to the ACLU. Clothier and Nardy constructed a list of several charities and organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, that they plan to support through future bake sales.

“When you uplift women, you also give them the power to uplift others,” Clothier says.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TORY KASSABAUM

Six pregnancy hotline billboards line Interstate 70 in Missouri. These billboards are sponsored by groups such as Birthright and Prolife Across America.

BEHIND the BILLBOARDS

The ads are worth millions. Meet the people who answer the pregnancy hotlines. by

MITCHELL FORDE ERIN ACHENBACH

p hoto b y

Y

ou’ve seen the signs. Six of them tower above Interstate 70 in Missouri.

A grinning, blue-eyed baby near mile 217 beams down next to the words, “God knew my soul before I was even born.”

Another states, “Your vote is their voice. Vote life.”

The abortion debate in America is waged in courtrooms, legislative chambers and advertisements.

The billboards along I-70 proclaim exclusively abortion-rights opponents’ messages.

“Love your babies, born and unborn,” is flanked by images of three infants and a radiant Virgin Mary near mile 58.

“At the gates, what will you tell Him when He asks… did you defend unborn children?”

Beneath these words you’ll often find a phone number for a pregnancy crisis hotline. Prolife Across America, Birthright International and the Pregnancy Resource Network all advertise hotlines on their billboards. But what happens when you call one?

First off, whoever answers will want to make sure you’re having a real crisis. If your call is not deemed critical, expect to hear the prompt buzz of a dial tone.

Mary Ann Kuharski, president of Prolife Across America, greets callers with a cheery, high-pitched Minnesota accent. Kuharski says that a crisis call is classified as one from a pregnant woman or a loved one of a pregnant woman. She and her approximately 10 employees take calls from an office in Minneapolis

and use a registry to direct callers to nearby crisis centers. Callers looking for a crisis center in Columbia are directed to either the Birthright center on East Broadway or the My Life Clinic on Providence Road.

Birthright sponsors 21 crisis centers in Missouri, including the Broadway location. Its billboard on I-70, around mile 192, advertises its own hotline. Diane Graslie, the executive director of Birthright’s clinic in Wentzville, says the primary goal of the billboard is to get pregnant women into a clinic. There, visitors are offered pregnancy tests, referrals to medical centers and free maternity and baby clothes for up to two years after a baby is born, among other services.

Both Birthright and Prolife Across America are funded entirely by donations, Kuharski and Graslie say.

The cost of a billboard varies based on its location, but a four-week spot in Columbia costs between $1,500 and $4,500. When asked how she pays for all the billboards, Kuharski responded, “We beg.”

Evidently, Kuharski has been begging successfully.

She started Prolife Across America 28 years ago in her living room. She asked family and friends for donations to place abortion-rights opponent messages — there was no hotline at this point — on a few Minnesota billboards. In 2015, Prolife Across America spent more than $3.76 million, according to an audit of its financial records. For every dollar the organization raises, 93.9 cents go toward advertising. Last year, Prolife Across America sponsored more than 7,500 billboards in 44 states.

Prolife Across America’s hotline receives roughly

100 to 150 calls each month, though that varies based on the number of advertisements the organization is sponsoring at any given time. Kuharski says about 40 percent of the callers are men. Of the women who call, she says around half have previously had an abortion.

About a third of callers are married and a third have a religious affiliation. Even if drivers can’t take down the hotline number as they whizz by, Kuharski says the signs serve to educate people about fetal development.

Kuharski loves to share success stories. There’s the woman who, on her way to an abortion appointment, changed her mind after seeing a billboard that said a fetus had a fingerprint at nine weeks or the man who called the hotline and agreed to counseling for himself and his pregnant girlfriend after he learned that a fetus has a heartbeat at 18 days.

She also shares the story of a woman from the St. Louis area. “She was not a church person, had had two abortions, was certainly not part of our program at all,” Kuharski says. The woman (whom she declined to name) now travels between Missouri’s church groups to raise money for Prolife Across America.

It’s impossible to know how many people have been convinced to carry their pregnancies to term by the hotlines and billboards. Just like it’s impossible to know how many drivers ignore them as they pass by.

If nothing else, Kuharski hopes to promote informed choices.

“At least the pregnant mother should know who and what is going on inside of her so that she can make a clear decision.”

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CONTRACEPTIVES ON THE COMPANY DIME How do Missouri employers balance religious beliefs and women’s health care? by

CHLOE CASTLEBERRY

A

i ll u strat i o n b y

MARY HILLEREN

privately held company located in Missouri has stopped offering contraceptives as part of its health plan due to religious reasons. An employee who has worked there for more than five years says her views on contraceptives are quite different from others in her company.

The employee asked to remain anonymous due to the possibility of being penalized by her employer. She says though not practicing, she personally is not against the use of contraceptives as a Catholic. She originally went on birth control for health reasons. According to a study from the Guttmacher Institute, an organization focused on sexual and reproductive health, 58 percent of women use birth control for medical reasons and not solely for family planning. She gets contraceptives through the Walgreens prescription plan, which costs $25 each year to register and $17 per month for birth control. Although not personally against the services that Planned Parenthood provides, she says she would feel uncomfortable taking advantage of their services.

She says her company makes the decisions, and despite its health care plan, she likes working for them — mainly because they have been compliant in her request for sick leave.

On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that companies can religiously object to providing

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contraceptive coverage as part of their health care plan to employees. The decision comes from Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby, the chain arts and crafts store, filed its lawsuit in 2012. Contraceptive advocates such as the National Women’s Law Center say that having access to birth control is crucial in ensuring that women have control over their health and body.

“Employers’ plans are all required to cover birth control,” says Mara Gandal-Powers, senior counsel at NWLC. “It remains to be seen when that’s no longer a requirement.” Now, employees who work for companies that object to offering contraception receive this benefit from the Affordable Care Act accommodation mandate.

The “accommodation” allows an employee to get birth control from a “third party administrator” instead of an employer, according to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The accommodation rule was originally for nonprofit organizations but extended to for-profit ones after the Hobby Lobby ruling.

By this definition, women will receive contraceptive coverage without costing them or the employer if they are insured. But the question remains: Which companies or organizations can deny this benefit to employees? Exemptions were supposed to apply to for-profit, private companies run by five or fewer people. But when Hobby Lobby won the Supreme Court decision, it opened the door for major companies to cite religious beliefs to opt out of coverage.

The University of Missouri system offers contraceptive coverage to its employees, says John Fougere, chief communications officer of the UM System. The university has no separate parental leave policy aside from the Family and Medical Leave Act. The FMLA requires employers to grant an employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for the birth of a child, the adoption of a child, caring for an ill family member or when an employee is unable to work due to health reasons, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“When I was teaching at Mizzou, I didn’t qualify for maternity leave because I was a visiting professor,” says Hayley Hawthorne, who is now an assistant professor at Monmouth College. She gave birth to her son right before Thanksgiving in 2014. She is now eight months pregnant with her second child and will receive six weeks paid parental leave.

“I think a company that doesn’t offer contraceptives or paid leave creates a hostile environment for women and says they don’t respect women to make decisions about their bodies,” Hawthorne says. “There is the idea the women shouldn’t be in the workforce. We see it with unequal pay and a lack of women in leadership and political decisions, but what we need to remember is that it is a woman’s decision to make if she wants to work — it should be their choice.”

THEIR BODIES, the state’s information

For many, high school health class is a room filled with snickering but not much discussion. Although the classrooms might be quiet, there is a loud discussion surrounding them.

KEELEY DORITY p h oto s b y D A V I S W I N B O R N E & SH A N N O N E L L I O T T by

T

he lower level of Rock Bridge High School barely gets cell phone service, but that doesn’t stop the students from trying. Their faces are in their phones until the moment they rush into Greg Nagel’s classroom. It’s a space filled with colorful posters, rows of desks and a CPR dummy. One poster reads, “Her life was boring, she thought she needed a change.

Teen pregnancy: consider all the angles.” It hangs on a chalkboard above a row of freshman girls, all of whom are wearing some variation of an unspoken uniform: Nike shorts, a T-shirt and either running shoes, Chacos or Birkenstocks.

Nagel has taught health at Rock Bridge for four years. Right now, the students are working on group presentations about the cost of health care. In a few weeks, it will be time for healthy relationships and human sexuality. The human sexuality unit is three weeks long and covers issues such as anatomy, sexually transmitted infections and birth control options.

Nagel says he’s careful about how this information is presented because he doesn’t want parents to feel uncomfortable. He says some parents are surprised that health and sexual education are being taught to freshmen, who are generally 14 and 15 years old.

Parents have the option to contact Nagel and request that their student not participate in group lectures and instead review the material on their own. Information on sexual health can also be sent home so parents can

review it with their students. The class syllabus states that parents should, “take time with your child to share your values, your beliefs and your expectations about this sensitive topic.”

Rock Bridge brings in guest speakers for many health units such as drugs and alcohol prevention and healthy relationships. But Nagel says the human sexuality unit comes with no demos and is mostly handouts about how birth control options work. Nagel says the information is good, but there is a lack of higher level content. Nagel has a question box placed on the main desk in the health room where students can anonymously ask questions concerning the human sexuality unit. “Our take-home message is abstinence; absolutely, it’s abstinence,” Nagel says.

MU student Natalie Heath attended West Junior High School, where she took health and sexual education. She graduated from Hickman High School in 2013. Heath remembers discussing pregnancy and ovulation, STIs and women’s menstruation cycles in sexual education.

Heath says she believes her education was lacking, and the curriculum implied that safe sex was the

According to the Missouri General Assembly, all sexual education must be medically and factually accurate.

But the key focus of the state’s curriculum is abstinence.

woman’s responsibility.

She doesn’t remember much talk of birth control options and says there wasn’t information provided about women’s resources, such as the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia.

“I think it would have been helpful to talk about other things such as endometriosis and other women’s health issues,” Heath says. “Just because women have uteruses doesn’t mean they always work right, and it’s important to talk about that.”

Although some students say there isn’t enough discussion during these courses, others believe there’s too much. A mother of a freshman student at Battle High School, who asked not to be named because she is involved with the school, was uncomfortable with the conversations that arose in a health and education course because it wasn’t tailored to each student.

She says that even though she is open with her children about their bodies, she felt the course was more

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in-depth than she expected. “From a district-wide standpoint, I know they are doing what they need to do,” she says. “But personally, I am more conservative than the district is.”

She says she believes every child is different and says what is appropriate for one child is not appropriate for another. When discussing the class with her son, she says he didn’t understand the severity of the issues. “There is no encouragement to wait (to have sex), and I don’t know if the kids fully understand the consequences of their actions,” she says. “We are already seeing with our younger son that he can tell our values are different than the school district’s.” She says that the health and sexual education courses are given at a good age, but it’s important for parents to stay involved and be aware of Sport medicine what’s being discussed. teacher Greg Nagel According to the Missouri teaches a three-week General Assembly, all human long human sexuality sexuality education must unit at Rock Bridge be medically and factually High School. accurate. This applies to all Missouri public schools. The Nagel’s classroom statute was last updated in contains rows August 2016 and includes of desks, a CPR policies such as “… discussion dummy and a poster of the possible emotional and that warns his students about teen psychological consequences pregnancy. of preadolescent and adolescent sexual activity and the consequences of adolescent pregnancy, as well as the advantages of (giving children up for) adoption.” It also says course materials or instruction about human sexuality are not allowed by any person or entity providing abortion services. This means health care providers such as Planned Parenthood are not allowed in schools.

sex ed

in the u . s .

There was a decline in birth control education in the U.S. between 2006 and 2010. In the same years, there was a rise in teens taught to say no to sex with no birth control education.

Only 18 states require sex education programs to provide information on contraceptives.

In Missouri, sex education is not required to teach contraceptive methods and must stress abstinence.

Sex education in 13 states, including Missouri, must discuss negative outcomes of teen sex and pregnancy.

Source: The Guttmacher Institute

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rootsnbluesnbbq.com

Local rock star AARON SCHILB strikes the right chords with his own lyrics, his own instrumentals and his own producing

A

aron Schilb never wanted to be a rock star. “It sounds unattainable and irresponsible,” he says.

Turns out, he was a natural. “He’s got an ear for what sounds good and what rocks,” says Joel Pruitt, friend and former bandmate. “You can’t teach that. You hear the music; you hear how he feels; then you feel it, too.”

Schilb is a self-taught musician and Columbia native who performs at open mic nights around town.

Aside from guitar, he plays piano, bass guitar, ukulele, harmonica, drums, keyboard and accordion. He also writes, records and produces all his own music. Like Jason Mraz and John Mayer, Schilb’s music relies heavily on melodic vocals and heartfelt acoustic guitar.

However, Schilb is different from many other musicians because he has lost 80 percent of his hearing.

A musical talent, Schilb also has drive and perseverance. “Aaron is a classic entrepreneur, headstrong, confident in himself and driven,” Pruitt says. “I see him as somebody who actually wants to make an impact on the music world.”

His new album, Tonic, was released April 14 and is available for purchase or download on iTunes, Spotify or other music streaming sites. Vox caught up with Schilb to talk about his new album and future endeavors.

How did you get into music?

Everyone in my family does music in some fashion.

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When I was a kid, I always said, “There’s no way I’m gonna do music.” I wanted to be the rebel. I wanted to be an astrophysicist. Then I realized that took a lot of math and a lot of physics, both things I’m really bad at. Turns out, I wasn’t good at anything else (besides music).

I basically started playing the piano from when I was big enough to reach the keys on the piano, probably 3 or 4 years old. I grew up only knowing church music. Old hymns and 2000s Christian worship songs was all I listened to because it was all I was given.

What is it like being a musician and having hearing loss?

I have a condition called otosclerosis, the hardening of bones in the ear. It usually happens to people 65 and older. I’ve lost about 80 percent of my hearing.

It’s gotten worse as I’ve gotten older, so I wear hearing aids, which corrects it for the most part, but it’s something people ask about a lot. They say, “You’re deaf. How can you play music?” (The hearing aids) have these settings that are better for loud music, so when I’m onstage, I change the settings.

There is no guarantee I’ll lose my hearing completely, but there is also a chance it will all go away. I don’t know if the opportunity to play music will go away completely if I lose the ability to hear it.

Tell us about having creative control over your album.

This is the first one I’m releasing under my own name. I’m finally happy with the songs I’m producing. I record everything on my own on my computer. I use Logic on my Mac. I used GarageBand for a long time. I started collecting recording equipment so I could do everything in my house, so I have microphones and a mixing board. It’s been a slow process to figure out what does what, but I’ve read a lot and listened to a lot of tutorials. I’m very into teaching myself how to do new things.

What inspires your lyrics?

More often than not, it’s something I’ll tweet. I’ll look back at it later and think, “That would make a good song lyric.” One of the songs on my new album, called “Carried Away,” is a product of that. I tweeted, “I may be cynical about my love life, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try to fail a hundred times.” My friend said, “Is this the lyrics to a song?” and I said, “Not yet!”

— EMMA BEYER PHOTO BY LAUREN KASTNER

THE TO-DO LIST

this week in Columbia

ARTS & CULTURE May Psychic Fair Beltane Edition

Take a look into your future with a fair full of tarot cards, crystal energy healing and predictions about your destiny. Put local mediums to the test and venture into a world of the subconscious. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Achieve Balance Chiropractic, Free, 442-4242

CIVIC Women, Wine & Wellness

Get up to speed on current women’s health news while sipping vino and vying for tons of terrific raffle prizes. There will be guest speakers sharing tips on topics such as mindful eating and skincare. Tonight, 7–9 p.m., Achieve Balance Chiropractic, Free, 442-5520

Rock Bridge Animal Hospital 11th Annual Luau

Say aloha to dogs in hula skirts and cats wearing coconut bras. If this compelling image doesn’t strike your fancy, come for the free food, games and face painting. It’s a slice of tropical paradise in CoMo. Friday, 6–8 p.m., Free, Rock Bridge Animal Hospital, 443-4501

International Female Ride Day

Raise a glass to the biker chick in your life.

Enjoy a free biscuit and gravy breakfast and hear from female motorcyclists in the community. Saturday, 9 a.m., Free, Mid America Harley-Davidson, 875-4444

FOOD & DRINK Mexican Porter Release Party

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo Eve with the unveiling of Broadway Brewery’s Mexican Porter. The new beer blends cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon and habanero peppers for an extra kick. Be the first in line to taste this brand-new brew. Tonight, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Broadway Brewery, 443-5054

Mayfest Block Party

This Cinco de Mayo, Orr Street is closing down for the night and getting a new look.

Food vendors, beer extraordinaries, music from La Movida. What could be better than this? Friday, 7 p.m., Rose Music Hall, Free, 874-1944

MUSIC Relevant Hairstyles w/ Maxito Lindo and Dank Fizzler

Chicago band Relevant Hairstyles bounces between roots-folk and jam-rock. Two Columbia bands, Maxito Lindo and Dank Fizzler, will open. Tonight, 8 p.m., Cafe Berlin, $5, 441-0400

Beach Slang

Come out and enjoy “the beach” brought to Columbia by Rose Music Hall. Bands Zach Sullentrup & His Terrible 20s and Half Moon will perform to open the night. Tonight, 8:30 p.m., Rose Music Hall, $15, 874-1944

Claflin & Grace

Ellie Grace and Brian Claflin are songwriting partners and old friends whose roots-based Americana shines with stunning two-part harmonies. With long and successful independent performing and recording careers, their debut duo CD will be released this year. Friday, 7:30–10 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia, $13 in advance, $15 at the door, 239-0430

The Flood Brothers

These “brothers” are bringing out the instruments to make this Cinco de Mayo a great one. Donations to the local band are encouraged. Friday, 10:30 p.m., Rose Music Hall, Free, 874-1944

SCREEN Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (PG-13)

The biggest misfits in the galaxy are back to do a bit of both something good and something bad in the sequel to Marvel’s sci-fi hit romp. See what Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax the Destroyer (David Bautista) and baby Groot (Vin Diesel) have been up to since the first time they saved the galaxy.

R, F RUNTIME = 2:18

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Risk (NR)

Journalist Laura Poitras’ intimate documentary follows Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks team over six years. The film shows Poitras’ shifting relationship with Assange and his comrades-in-leaks.

RT RUNTIME = 1:34

Still playing

Beauty and the Beast (PG) F, R Born in China (G) R The Boss Baby (PG) F, R The Circle (R) F, R Colossal (R) RT The Fate of the Furious (PG-13) F, R Free Fire (R) RT Get Out (R) R Gifted (PG-13) F, R Going In Style (PG-13) F, R The Lost City of Z (PG-13) RT Phoenix Forgotten (PG-13), F, R Theaters F = Forum R = Regal

RT = Ragtag = available in 3D

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