The meeting will be at The Heights, Maryhland Heights’ community center, 8001 Dale Avenue, at 7 pm.  It will feature an update on our lawsuit against the state of Missouri by Denise Lieberman, AU’s local attorney for the case, and comments by some of the plaintiffs.   There will be an opportunity to sign a petition to repeal Missouri’s draconian abortion law (which is not directly related to our lawsuit, but complementary to it). We will also have a report on the status of bills in the Missouri legislature that impinge on church/state separation.

A brief business meeting will include an update on our finances, plans for the annual picnic and other activities, and the election of new Board members.

On Monday, February 26, 7:00 pm, at the Mid-County Library Branch, 7821 Maryland Avenue, we will meet to view the video, “Deciding Vote”. This NewYorker.com short documentary reconstructs the moral dilemma associated with the passage of the 1970 New York law that made that state a “pre-Rowe vs Wade” sanctuary for legal abortion.  Join us to share the video and our group reaction to it.  We will have some refreshments before the video. Please let us know you are coming through our MeetUp page but come in any case. Trivia question: “Which state was first to pass legislation legalizing abortion in the 1970s?”

Representative George Michaels in the NY

 

The initiative petition seeking to get the Missouri abortion ban rescinded will be available to sign at the meeting.  [This effort is not connected to our own AU suit against the state of Missouri, which would determine the ban to be unconstitutional because it infringes on religious freedom.]

 

On January 25, our Chapter Treasurer, Hal Harris, presented an update on the status of the suit by AU and the Women’s Law Center against the state of Missouri to the Phelps County Democratic Club.  (AU is a non-partisan educational organization, but we present factual information to the public regardless of political affiliation.) We are suing on the ground that Missouri’s comprehensive and cruel abortion ban infringes on freedom of religion. The Missouri defendants (including the Governor, the Attorney General, and the health-related officers of the State) have tried to claim that the plaintiffs do not have standing and that judge should issue a summary judgement against us.  The claim that we did not have standing was dismissed within two weeks, but the second motion is under consideration.  A ruling was expected “in January”, but has not so far been issued. Any day now …

On Thursday, November 9, Brian Silva, Vice President of Outreach and Engagement for AU, described the current status of our lawsuit to strike down Missouri’s abortion ban as a clear violation of the Missouri state constitution.  The talk wasco-sponsored by us, Women’s Voices for Social Justice and the National Council of Jewish Women in St. Louis.  It was an excellent illustrated lecture, with many good questions afterward.  A crowd of about 100 attended. The next step is a hearing on November 16 at 11:00 in the Carnahan Municipal Courthouse in St. Louis, where the AG will attempt for the second time to have the suit thrown out. The same judge will be hearing the same arguments again, so we have every expectation of prevailing as we did last summer, but this is Missouri, so you never know.

Believe it or not, the St. Louis Chapter just celebrated its 75th anniversary! We hope you were able to join us on November 1, 2023, at the History Museum in Forest Park. We had a good group of about 75 who enjoyed hors d’oevres and drinks, and remarks from our Chapter President, Cynthia Holmes and our national CEO, Rachel Laser. Ms. Laser summarized the status of our lawsuit against the Missouri law that bans essentially all abortions and celebrated this historic milestone of one of the oldest, if not the oldest AU Chapter in the country.

Our Annual Picnic was at the Shaw Park South Shelter on September 17, featuring “Church and State” editor Rob Boston. We also had music this year! – “Number 9 Coal” played bluegrass and  old timey music. Were you there, or were you square?

A persuasive op-ed appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on July 24, 2023. Its authors are L. Lewis Wall and Douglas Brown, Emeritus Professors in the Washington University School of Medicine. They describe the ways in which the “personhood” claim relative to abortion riights violates the religious liberties of citizens. All of this is relevant to our suit against the state of Missouri. Read (or listen to) the whole essay here.