After a Kansas City hospital stopped giving patients emergency contraception because of ambiguous language in the new abortion ban, some Missouri legislators sought clarity from Attorney General Eric Schmitt about the legality of the drug.
Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade asked Schmitt to issue an official opinion.
“The state’s new anti-abortion law is so extreme, Missourians are justified in worrying they could be sent to prison for merely for taking birth control pills,” Quade said.
Schmitt's spokesperson clarified in a statement that "Missouri law does not prohibit the use or provision of Plan B, or contraception." a major St. Louis hospital system says it won't follow suit.
A statement from one major St. Louis hospital reads, "BJC HealthCare and Washington University School of Medicine will continue to offer all forms of contraception."
Plan B or "morning after" pills are commonly thought to be an abortifacient, which has caused some concern among Missourians wondering if they can still access them. But Plan B pills, according to Medicinenet.com, have similar ingredients to regular birth control pills and work by delaying ovulation. They are not able to terminate a pregnancy, only prevent them. This means that like other contraceptives, there is nothing that prohibits people from taking them.