At the end of 2022, President Biden passed a large spending bill that included significant increases to many funding sources that support victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and harassment. MOCADSV thanks our national coalition partners, champions in Congress, and advocates across the country for their work in getting these important increases to funding across the finish line.

Some highlights from this spending package include:

  • Record-breaking increase in funding for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) program, which was increased by $37.5 million
  • Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) increased by $24.5 million to a total of $78.5 million
  • Rape Prevention & Education Program (RPE) increased by $5 million to a total of $61.75 million
  • $170 million toward DNA initiatives that include sexual assault forensic exam kit testing and sexual assault forensic exam program grants
  • VAWA Culturally Specific Programs increased by $1 million to a total of $11 million
  • VOCA cap is set at $1.9 billion with no VAWA transfer
  • A number of increases to vital VAWA programs including: the Sexual Assault Services Program, the Transitional Housing program, Legal Assistance for Victims, the Rural Grant Program, as well as investments in newer programs like the LGBTQ Specific Services Program

 

For more information on the domestic and sexual violence funding passed in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill, check out the information put out by the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV).

It’s not news to some that in communities throughout Missouri there have been restrictions on access to emergency contraception by faith-based hospitals and pharmacies. MOCADSV is gravely concerned that if more hospitals and pharmacies stop providing access to emergency contraception the ramifications of these decisions will again be placed on the shoulders of victims who need the best from Missouri, its decision-makers, their communities, and their healthcare providers. Sending a victim out in borrowed clothes after an assault and an invasive exam, to travel to a variety of stores or pharmacies to track down the medication they need to put their mind at ease is cruel and unwarranted. Missouri can and should do better.

St. Luke’s Health System in Kansas City has reversed their earlier decision to stop providing emergency contraception to patients. Their decision to stop providing it was based on interpretation of the 2019 “trigger law” that last week banned abortion, and the subsequent proclamation and opinion signed by the Governor and Attorney General. We appreciate St. Luke’s willingness to reverse course and put the needs of victims first. 

First and foremost, we want to thank the advocates at the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA). MOCSA staff immediately advocated on the behalf of victims by describing how this change in policy would affect someone who had just been raped and was seeking a comprehensive range of hospital care. MOCSA’s advocacy efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Thank you to Missouri House Minority Leader, Representative Crystal Quade of Springfield, for requesting an official opinion from the Attorney General’s office regarding the new law and the impact on Missourians who use contraception.

Thank you to the office of the Missouri Attorney General for quickly and unequivocally stating, as reported by the Missouri Independent, “Missouri law does not prohibit the use or provision of Plan B, or contraception,” said Chris Nuelle, a spokesman for Schmitt.”

After Governor Parson charged the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to evaluate whether the newly enacted law that bans abortions in Missouri applies to contraceptives, DHSS released a statement that contraception is not banned under Missouri law. “Before and following the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Dobbs that overturns Roe v. Wade, Missouri law does not ban the use of contraception methods. RSMo 188.017 criminalizes performing an abortion absent a medical emergency, but this does not include pregnancy preventive measures.” 

We thank DHSS for their swift action in releasing this statement and ensuring that sexual assault survivors, and all Missourians, will continue to have access to emergency contraceptives.

We hope other providers that had been considering a change of practice to stop providing emergency contraception strongly consider the statements from the Attorney General’s office and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services before doing so. For additional information about birth control methods and where to access various forms of birth control, visit the Missouri Family Health Council.