Author

Anna Spoerre covers reproductive health care for The Missouri Independent. A graduate of Southern Illinois University, she most recently worked at the Kansas City Star where she focused on storytelling that put people at the center of wider issues. Before that she was a courts reporter for the Des Moines Register.
Missouri rape hotline reporting requirement in abortion-rights petition draws criticism
By: Anna Spoerre - November 27, 2023
When Trish Mitchell got an abortion three decades ago in Missouri, she didn’t tell the doctor her pregnancy was a result of sexual assault. She couldn’t bring herself to. It would be years before she told anyone that she had been raped. “Speaking for myself, it was literally almost impossible,” said Mitchell, who was 21 […]
Missouri Supreme Court won’t hear Jay Ashcroft’s appeal of abortion ballot summaries
By: Anna Spoerre - November 20, 2023
The Missouri Supreme Court has denied Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s atrempt to appeal rulings against his ballot summary for initiative petitions seeking to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. The court also rejected an appeal seeking to reject cost estimates crafted by Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. The decisions came down Monday evening, less […]
Abortion rights won big on the ballot in Ohio. But in Missouri, advocates remain divided
By: Anna Spoerre - November 17, 2023
Missouri could be the first state with a near-total abortion ban to use the initiative petition process to restore access. But time is running short, with a May deadline to collect enough signatures looming and court battles over ballot summaries still plodding along. And while voters in Ohio became just the latest to overwhelmingly back […]