Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, left, and his Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce, faceoff on Aug. 15 at the Governor’s Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).
Missourians are set to vote on whether to unravel the state’s abortion ban or keep it intact. And as the debate rages across the state, access to reproductive health care has become a major flashpoint in the race for U.S. Senate between Republican Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce
Hawley, who is seeking re-election after winning the seat in 2018, is adamantly anti-abortion. Kunce, a Marine veteran, has made support for abortion rights a key piece of his insurgent campaign.
The stark differences mean the outcome of the multi-million showdown for Missouri’s Senate seat could have wide-reaching effects on abortion access.
“Abortion’s legality nationwide hangs in the balance with who controls the Senate,” said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University. “And if the Republicans control the Senate, I would think Josh Hawley would be a big part of driving that national abortion ban conversation.”
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley campaigns for re-election on Oct. 10 in downtown Parkville. Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butler joined him at the rally (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).
Hawley has vehemently opposed abortion his entire political career.
“Abortion is not a right. It is a violent act against the defenseless. It violates every principle of morality and should be barred by American law,” Hawley said in 2016 while running for Missouri Attorney General, adding that he supports ”every limit that can receive public support.”
Hawley said at the time that he opposed abortion at any point in pregnancy and also opposed embryonic stem-cell research, though more recently has stressed he wouldn’t support a national ban.
“Every person is made in the image of God,” Hawley said during a July interview with Tony Perkins who leads the Family Research Council, an anti-LGBTQ group. “Every life matters and we ought to be clear on that, especially now that the voters and their elected voters have the say.”
Kunce is running hard in the opposite direction, voicing unwavering support for Missouri’s Amendment 3, which would overturn the current ban and legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability. Abortion became illegal in the state in 2022, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies but not for survivors of rape or incest.
In his political ads and at rallies, Kunce has depicted Hawley as an extremist who plans to pass a nationwide abortion ban, calling Hawley’s recent debate remarks opposing a nationwide ban a ruse rather than reality.
“I’m gonna tell you right now: women’s reproductive rights, we’re taking our power back this fall,” Kunce told a rally of supporters in Jefferson City earlier this month. “And there is literally no worse member of Congress on women’s rights than Josh Hawley, which, folks, that’s an achievement.”
A recent statewide poll by St. Louis University/YouGov found 52% of respondents were in favor of Amendment 3, with 34% opposed. The same polling puts Hawley 11 percentage points ahead of Kunce.
Though down in the polls, Kunce’s campaign reported raising more than double what Hawley raised in the last three months and is endorsed by some of the state and nation’s leading abortion-rights groups.
“From the Hawleys to the highest court, these attacks on abortion at the state and federal levels are coordinated and intentional,” said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, in an April endorsement of Kunce.
Meanwhile, Hawley maintains a perfect A+ score from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America for his time in Congress.
“Sen. Hawley is a strong champion for both mothers and babies, advocating for the protection of unborn children from painful late-term abortions and supporting pregnancy resource centers that assist women in need,” said Sue Liebel, director of state affairs and the midwest regional director for the group, in an emailed statement.
Kunce and Hawley on abortion
Mingling with supporters alongside Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker at a campaign event in Parkville this month, Hawley was asked by reporters about his historical positions on IVF and abortion.
“Missouri’s law on IVF is pretty darn good. I wouldn’t change it,” Hawley said. “If you’re asking me my own opinion on abortion, I would favor exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. That’s what I would like to see, like to vote for.”
As for Amendment 3, Hawley said he was glad citizens have the right to vote on the issue.
“We’ve got to allow voters to vote on these issues when it comes to abortion,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely right Missouri voters get to make a choice on this. And they can vote on it as many times as they want to.”
He twice declined to answer questions about his position on fetal personhood, a topic that drew attention after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that frozen, pre-implanted embryos have the same rights as children in a case that left many Alabamans temporarily cut off from access to in-vitro fertilization.
But he did accuse Kunce of supporting abortion until the point of birth, an attack echoed by anti-abortion activists and lawmakers who’ve spoken against Amendment 3.
Amendment 3, if passed, would allow the Missouri legislature to regulate abortion after the point of fetal viability, generally seen as the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, with exceptions for “the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
Kunce says he supports codifying Roe v. Wade at a national level, and last spring said if elected he would “fight to end the filibuster and enshrine reproductive freedom and abortion rights into law.”
He also supports funding contraception for everyone, regardless of who their employer is.
Lucas Kunce, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, greets supporters with his son, Harvey, at a rally on Oct. 12 at the Marine Corps League in Jefferson City (Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent).
About a decade ago, Hawley assisted with the Hobby Lobby case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that private employers could cite religious exemptions to opt out of covering contraceptives for employees.
Hawley at the time compared birth control to “abortifacients,” because they prevent an embryo from implanting in the lining of the uterus, thus preventing pregnancy.
“It’s all about control,” Kunce said, ticking through Hawley’s votes against bills that would have offered federal protections for IVF and pregnant workers, adding: “It’s all about making decisions for us, and I just think Missourians are smart enough to make their own decisions without creeps like Josh Hawley telling them how to live and direct in their lives.”
Senators’ power over reproductive health care
While none of the legislation Hawley has sponsored or co-sponsored related to reproductive health care has passed the closely divided Senate, he has introduced a bill to increase criminal penalties against those who damage property at pregnancy resource centers.
He’s backed several other abortion-related proposals, including bills that would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report abortions facilitated by the VA to Congress, prohibit research using human fetal tissue after an abortion, restrict federal funds to abortion facilities, a tax credit for pregnancy resource centers and a child tax credit for families who miscarried or suffered a stillbirth.
Hawley also co-sponsored a 2024 bill that would have prohibited tax deductions for abortion-related medical expenses, with exceptions for abortions performed in cases of rape, incest or to save the life or health of the mother.
Perhaps most notably, he co-sponsored a bill to create a national abortion ban at 15 weeks.
Hawley is also an outspoken proponent of restricting abortion nationwide through enforcement of the Comstock Act, a 1873 law that bans the mailing of obscene material, including for the use of abortion. He was among a number of senators who signed a letter in 2023 asking the U.S. Attorney General to enforce the Comstock Act and make illegal the mailing of abortion medication, which has increasingly become popular and accessible across the United States after Roe was overturned.
If former President Donald Trump were to return to the White Hosue, it would be possible for the DOJ to enforce the Comstock Act, especially if pressured by anti-abortion senators like Hawley.
“And short of banning abortion, he could do other things like restricting funding for Planned Parenthood, trying to cut off access to abortion pills, passing legislation that restricts them,” said Cohen, the Drexel professor and a leading expert on constitutional law and abortion.
Hawley also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, a role that allows him to help approve hundreds of judges to federal courts, including justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Every one of those judicial positions can and has shaped the landscape of reproductive health care in America.
If Hawley is re-elected and Republicans take back the majority in the Senate, Cohen said it’s possible Hawley could end up with the gavel on the judiciary committee, giving him an outsized influence on who sits on America’s highest benches.
Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said she believes a national abortion ban is highly unlikely.
“After Roe was overturned, I think it became pretty apparent that the only way we are going to get a national law on abortion would be if there is some national consensus,” Tobias said.
National polling shows abortion remains overwhelmingly popular among Americans, with 63% in support of access and 36% opposed, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll.
“We need to do more to make women and families realize that they can continue the pregnancy, if that’s what they want to do,” Tobias said, adding that she believes Hawley would do just that.
And any mention of Hawley and abortion must include the work of his wife, Erin Hawley, who was part of the legal team who helped overturn Roe v Wade in 2022 and as well as an unsuccessful attempt to limit access to mifepristone, a medication commonly used to induce non-surgical abortions.
“They’ve failed so far, but they’re going to keep trying,” Cohen said of the Hawleys’ attempts to further limit access to abortion nationwide. “They are certainly using every power that they have at their disposal to try and restrict abortion as broadly as possible.”
The Independent’s Jason Hancock contributed to this story.
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