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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a sunny Saturday in October, Johanna Kelley set out to canvass for two ballot propositions personal to her: one that would raise the minimum wage and create paid sick leave and another that would establish a constitutional right to abortion in the state of Missouri, which for more than two years has been under a near-total abortion ban.
Kelley, a licensed social worker and therapist, was motivated to canvass by her own experiences of becoming a mother. She and her husband, Michael, who was also out canvassing that day, got pregnant with their first daughter with the help of fertility treatment. After experiencing a complicated pregnancy and birth, she went back to work just six weeks later.
“That’s when I was like, if I didn’t so desperately want this baby, I don’t think I could have gone through with it,” she said. “That’s when I really became passionate about this issue.”