Latest News On Missouri

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Silence in Sikeston: Trauma Lives in the Body

Podcast

Denzel Taylor, a young Black father, moved from Chicago to Sikeston, Missouri, for a fresh start in life. There, he proposed to his girlfriend, started a family, and then, in April 2020, was fatally shot by police officers. Taylor had two young daughters and another on the way when he was killed. Pediatrician Rhea Boyd talks about how children process such loss.

Abortion Clinics — And Patients — Are on the Move, as State Laws Keep Shifting

KFF Health News Original

Clinics in states where most abortions are legal, such as Kansas and Illinois, are reporting an influx of inquiries from patients hundreds of miles away — and are expanding in response. Despite the Supreme Court’s overturning of federal protections in 2022, abortions are now at their highest numbers in a decade.

Silence in Sikeston: Hush, Fix Your Face

Podcast

In Episode 2 of the “Silence in Sikeston” podcast, host Cara Anthony speaks with Sikeston, Missouri, resident Larry McClellon, who grew up being told not to talk about the 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright. He is determined to break the cycle of silence in his community. Anthony also unearths a secret in her own family and grapples with the possible effects of intergenerational trauma.

Silence in Sikeston: Racism Can Make You Sick

Podcast

The “Silence in Sikeston” podcast explores what it means to live with racism and violence, then charts the toll on health — from hives and high blood pressure to struggles with mental health. The deaths of two Black men killed nearly 80 years apart in the same Missouri community anchor a conversation about the public health consequences of systemic bias.

Abortion Ballot Measures Won’t Automatically Undo Existing Laws

KFF Health News Original

On Tuesday, a judge in Michigan blocked some of the state’s lingering restrictions on abortion access, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period. The ruling comes 19 months after voters added abortion rights to the state constitution in November 2022. Michigan was one of the first states to protect abortion access at the ballot box after […]