Today in Missouri, a group of women protested in and around the state capitol dressed in a familiar costume ' the red robes and white bonnets of Margaret Atwoods novel The Handmaids Tale.According to Think Progress, the women carried signs that read, Dont let Missouri become Gilead and Gilead took credit cards, #Moleg is taking Medicaid cards, aiming to raise awareness of lawmakers recent push to restrict reproductive rights.The handmaids were forced to remove their bonnets before being allowed to watch the Missouri House. #MoLeg #PraiseBe #HandmaidsTale pic.twitter.com/mDgWOkm7Qb PPMO Advocates (@PPMO_Advocates) May 3, 2017 The protest, organized in part by Planned Parenthood and NARAL, expressed concern over a budget amendment that would prevent the Missouri Womens State Funded Health Services Program from providing funding to clinics that perform abortions. A politician who sponsored the amendment, Rep. Robert Ross (R), claimed during a debate that it would prevent taxpayer money from supporting abortion. According to the communications coordinator for Planned Parenthood Missouri, Sarah Felts, the amendment is more dangerous than that.It defines abortion services really broadly. Not only providing abortion care, but just talking about it, Felts told Think Progress. Theres no clear definition of referring. It could just be talking about abortion as an option.This is just the latest womens health-related development in Missouri, which has seen an array of proposed pro-life bills this year. #HandmaidsTale in the House, wondering why hats are allowed on the floor today but not theirs #moleg #PraiseBe pic.twitter.com/7PhAMzTnaL NARAL Missouri (@NARALMissouri) May 3, 2017 The Missouri protest followeda similar demonstration in Texas, for which participants also dressed like residents of Gilead.The Missouri protest, however, went slightly less smoothly; earlier this afternoon, Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri, a group that helped coordinate the protest, tweeted, The handmaids were forced to remove their bonnets before being allowed to watch the Missouri House.The Handmaids Tale, a 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood thats recently been adapted into a Hulu series starring Elisabeth Moss, is about an American government that quickly becomes oppressive, taking away womens credit cards and forcing them to work as handmaids, or enslaved sex workers for infertile couples. The series showrunner Bruce Miller, and Atwood herself, have commented on the similarities between Gilead and the political climate in America today. "Gilda's took credit cards Moleg is taking Medicaid cards"#moleg #HandmaidsTale pic.twitter.com/XAoiydhs4y Planned Parenthood (@PPGreatPlains) May 3, 2017 type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related... + articlesList=58ffb42de4b0073d3e7a1d0c,58fb61a3e4b00fa7de14b77d,58fb7c79e4b00fa7de14c20c,58fb53bce4b00fa7de14b564,58e7de23e4b058f0a02f0adb,58ef93ece4b0bb9638e1fcb5function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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