Missourians will be able to vote on the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative this fall, since it was certified by the MO Secretary of State on Tuesday. Supporters gathered more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, despite lies put out by the opposition.

Focus on the Family sent out over 90,000 brochures to Missouri residents, with quotes from women's organizations to strengthen opposition to the stem cell initiative. When the Center for American Progress contacted several of the women's organizations, they said their quotes had been taken out of context in order to misrepresent their views. In fact, these women's organizations are supportive of stem cell research. They do NOT think it is "exploiting women in the name of science" as the brochure says. Looks like Focus on the Family was exploiting women's health advocates!

Luckily, Missourians saw through that deception and united to place the stem cell initiative on the November ballot – just as Coloradoans saw through the ideological rhetoric as they rejected their anti-choice initiative last week. Hopefully voters in Missouri are leaning as favorably (or more) towards the stem cell initiative as voters in South Dakota are towards defeating the abortion ban. Though as Scott reported, there is still much work to be done to protect South Dakotans' reproductive freedom.

Here's to voters standing up for science-based evidence in the struggle against misinformation & politically-driven ideology. Stay tuned at Rewire as we continue our coverage leading up to the November elections.