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On Mother’s Day, keep your cards. Invest in moms
For Mother’s Day this year, I don’t want chocolate or jewelry. For Mother’s Day this year, I want us to finally focus on making this country a better, safer place for mothers. We’re coming up on the first Mother’s Day since a variety of draconian restrictions on abortion access have gone into place, which means […]
Guns and vigilantes: Fear, paranoia has created a culture of violence
PUT THE GUN DOWN. It’s just the doorbell, the child is lost. PUT THE GUN DOWN. It’s just a car, doing a u-turn because they were lost. PUT THE GUN DOWN. She got into the wrong car by accident. PUT THE GUN DOWN. He didn’t mean to cut you off. PUT THE GUN DOWN. It […]
Pandora’s Box: Overturning Roe is only the beginning of the threats to women | Opinion
When I was raped in 2016, one of my attackers reached inside me and pulled out my NuvaRring, an internal birth control device, and asked me what it was. When I told him, he cast it aside where it was lost until police retrieved it a couple days later. Following my attack, because of the […]
It’s time Missouri lawmakers close the domestic violence gun loophole | Opinion
Missouri continuously ranks in the top 10 of states for gun violence deaths and the number of women killed by their partners. Domestic violence hotlines throughout Missouri receive on average about 200 calls a day, and in 2020 nearly 30,000 individuals received services through the state’s domestic violence programs. The numbers are staggering, yet Missouri […]
Kids can finally get vaccinated. This is how we know it’s safe | Opinion
Back in June, with the prospect of my 8-year-old daughter returning to full-time, in-person schooling fast approaching, I took the opportunity to enroll her in the pediatric Pfizer vaccine trial. While there was only a 50% chance of her receiving the vaccine vs. a placebo, I figured that 50% was better than nothing. As a […]
My daughter is enrolled in Pfizer’s vaccine trial because I don’t trust COVID
On a sunny Wednesday a little over a month ago, my 7-year-old daughter bravely held my hand as we walked into Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City to participate in a pediatric vaccine trial. After a numbing agent, a blood draw and a nasal swab, she was finally injected with either a placebo or the […]
How do you move forward after an insurrection?
It’s been more than six months since the Jan. 6 insurrection, but it feels like it took place yesterday. And I’m concerned about what lies ahead. In the isolation of the pandemic, much of our political discourse has moved from the public square to the more anonymous comment section. What does that mean for our […]
As a former Missouri Capitol intern, the latest scandals come as no surprise
The news of another controversy surrounding a legislator’s alleged misconduct toward a subordinate in the Missouri Capitol comes as no surprise. While I don’t know Rep. Wiley Price, or the intern he denies having sex with, this type of scandal has become almost cliche. Jefferson City has always been a boy’s club. Look back at […]
Watching history unfold through my daughter’s eyes
When I asked my 7-year-old daughter what she thought of the inauguration, she told me, “it was fine.” Filled with hope and excitement, I pressed her further, trying to unearth some recognition of the historical nature of last month’s events. I asked if she understood how significant it was that we have our first female […]