JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A coalition of abortion-rights organizations is now gathering signatures to reverse the state’s abortion ban, causing tensions to run high in the Missouri Senate. 

It’s been a tough start to the year in the upper chamber, and the announcement of the campaign—whose goal is to create a citizen’s right to an abortion in the Missouri Constitution—only fractures things further among Republicans. Some members stood their ground for hours Thursday to change the initiative petition process. 

“We should not even be in this situation, but here we are,” Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, R-Sikeston, said. 

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom is a group consisting of the ACLU of Missouri, Abortion Action Missouri and Planned Parenthood chapters in Kansas City and St. Louis that has been halting action in the upper chamber for hours. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom announced Thursday it would start collecting signatures to put an initiative petition on the ballot to end the state’s abortion ban.

“Politicians have forced themselves into our doctor’s offices, our relationships, our families and our decision-making,” Tori Schafer, deputy director of policy for the ACLU of Missouri, said. 

This comes after Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s legal challenges caused the petitions to languish in the courts for months. In November, the group won a legal battle over the ballot summary language, allowing them to start gathering signatures. 

“Today’s launch is a victory for Missourians’ right to vote for their reproductive freedom, despite power-hungry politicians’ attempts to deny those that they serve their constitutional right through our initiative petition process,” Executive Director of Abortion Action Missouri Mallory Schwarz said. 

The news of the signature gathering is adding urgency to the Republican priority of passing legislation to make it harder for voters to amend the constitution. 

“I think it needs to be a little bit tougher to enshrine something into the Missouri Constitution,” Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, said. “It’s all too easy to put things into the Missouri Constitution.”

Under current state statute, to approve an initiative petition, all it takes is a simple majority, meaning more votes for than against. 

On Thursday, a group of Republican senators known as the Missouri Freedom Caucus tried to sidestep the legislative process by bringing the legislation without sending it to committee but the members did not have the votes. Instead, that led to more gridlock and infighting among Republicans. 

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been as disappointed in this chamber as I am right now,” Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said. “If this doesn’t change and if we don’t figure out how to act like adults and act like the people who sent us here actually have some stake in this game, that’s going to change.”

The Missouri Freedom Caucus said earlier Thursday that they would block the process of approving Gov. Mike Parson’s appointments to various boards and commissions. Members of the caucus stood for nearly six hours, filibustering the motion to approve the appointments. 

“I just want to pass (initiative petition) reform,” Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said. 

“You just want to be governor,” Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, responded. 

O’Laughlin went on to call the Missouri Freedom Caucus “terrorists.”

Others in the chamber tried to remind members why they were elected and the importance of representing Missourians. 

“Trying to make people look bad for one reason or another, it’s got to stop,” Sen. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo, said. “That stuff has got to stop if we ever want to function as a body.”

Meanwhile, the petition to allow abortion up to the point of fetal viability is now circulating in the state. 

“This initiative gives Missourians the opportunity to directly vote on reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions,” Schwarz said. 

The coalition has until May 5 to gather more than 171,000 signatures from registered voters for the amendment to appear on the ballot later this year.