Hundreds flood Missouri Capitol to protest explosive votes on abortion, sick leave & more

Kacen Bayless and Dominick Williams, The Kansas City Star on Jan 21, 2026

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Hundreds of people from Kansas City and across Missouri packed into the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday to protest a series of recent legislative attacks on direct and representative democracy.

The protest, organized by a range of local activist groups, came on the heels of one of the most explosive years in recent political history. Attendees protested lawmakers’ recent votes on a proposed abortion ban, a gerrymandered congressional map, a plan to overhaul the state’s form of direct democracy and the overturning of a voter-approved sick leave law.

“The politicians need to realize that they are working for us,” said LaTonya Sullivan, a Kansas City-based nurse and member of SEIU Healthcare, which represents health care workers. “It’s our vote that got them there and our vote can get them out of there.”

Throughout the day, individuals hurled chants and held up signs opposing actions by the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly, such as approval of the map, which slices through Kansas City’s core. The protest also marked a fierce backlash from residents amid Republican attempts to curtail direct democracy in Missouri.

Residents in Kansas City and across the state have used the state’s initiative petition process to pass policies seen as progressive, such as a minimum wage increase, Medicaid expansion and abortion rights. In response, lawmakers have moved to overturn those laws, slow-walked their expansion or sought to overhaul the process entirely.

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