[1]Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate

John — I’m a born-and-raised
Missourian.

And if Josh Hawley had his way, my kids would not be alive today.

[ [link removed]- ]Photo of Andy with his kids.

I know that might sound dramatic, and this is a long email. But if you
give me just a couple minutes of your time to explain, I know you’ll agree
— [ [link removed]- ]and I hope you’ll then chip in to help Lucas Kunce defeat Josh Hawley
this Tuesday.

[ [link removed]- ]CHIP IN NOW

It might be easy to assume I’m talking about Hawley’s continued opposition
to marriage equality. He even voted against it in 2022. While Josh Hawley
does seem to care a lot about what happens in my bedroom, I’m actually not
married — just gay.

While it’s safe to assume Hawley’s opposition to civil rights protections
for gay Americans means he doesn’t want me to be a parent anyway, his
assault on my right to build and raise a family has a lot more to do with
reproductive freedom — something that matters to each and every one of you
reading this.

Like many Americans — women, men, gay, straight — I had to rely on IVF to
build my family. I’m so incredibly thankful for the doctors, donors, and
rockstar surrogates who helped bring my kids into the world. Those women
gave me life. They gave me the chance to have a family. And I will be
forever indebted to them.

My son Ben was born in 2019, and my daughter Lucy was born in 2022 — just
a few months before the Dobbs decision. As any parent with IVF kids can
tell you, it isn’t easy. It’s expensive, takes time, and often fails.
Fertilized embryos will almost inevitably be lost, and the costs
associated with indefinite storage means extra embryos are almost always
either donated to research, donated to family, or discarded. It’s an
immense privilege to be able to build a family with IVF, when it should be
a right.

[ [link removed]- ]St. Louis Public Radio headline: 'No protection for IVF' Missouri
advocates sound alarm after IVF safeguards stymied in legislature.

Now, two years after Dobbs, we’re living in an America that has less
freedom than it did before — from a total abortion ban in Missouri and IVF
shutdowns in Alabama, to “fetal personhood” laws (which Missouri also has)
that threaten reproductive freedom in its entirety.

And no U.S. Senator is more personally responsible for it than Josh Hawley
— who is now up for his first election since everything changed.

You might already know about Josh Hawley’s extreme anti-choice views and
how he’s used his taxpayer-funded office to support his wife's legal work
in the Dobbs case and in the case to ban the abortion pill nationwide —
[ [link removed]- ]and if that’s reason enough for you to want to help Lucas Kunce defeat
Hawley in November, then add a donation to help Lucas get it done.

[ [link removed]- ]CHIP IN NOW

But if you didn’t already know about Josh Hawley’s deep personal
involvement in every single part of the nationwide assault on reproductive
freedom, then keep reading.

It all started when Hawley led the Hobby Lobby case in front of the
Supreme Court, which gave employers the power to refuse coverage for birth
control for their workers. He even said contraceptives “may induce an
abortion by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg” — which, to be
clear, is not true or what an abortion is according to virtually every
medical professional.

Once Hawley got to the U.S. Senate, he did everything he could to push his
extreme anti-reproductive freedom agenda forward: Putting campaign donors
as well as anti-IVF and anti-surrogacy extremists on our courts. Using his
taxpayer-funded office to support his activist-lawyer wife's cases to
overturn Roe, enacting Missouri’s total abortion ban, and even trying to
ban the abortion pill nationwide. And sponsoring extreme “fetal
personhood” bills at the national level.

[ [link removed]- ]On the left, a headline from The Guardian: Hawley's anti-abortion
arguments echoed in AL IVF case. On the right, a headline from the
Washington Post: Nominee who is anti-IVF and surrogacy was deemed
unqualified. Hawley: 'I was proud to recommend her.'

Then, Hawley made it clearer than ever how he feels about IVF and our
right to build a family: He voted against a bill to guarantee access to
IVF and make it more affordable. His reason?

Hawley told the media the Right To IVF Act was really part of an “abortion
agenda.”

I’m sorry, but that’s CRAZY.

[ [link removed]- ]CHIP IN TO FIGHT BACK

His ultimate goal here is obvious — Josh Hawley doesn’t just want Big
Brother politicians like himself to control us in our bedrooms and our
doctor’s offices. He wants to control OUR bodies, and even how we choose
to build and raise OUR families.

And if he gets another six years to finish what he’s started, then the
ability to build a family like mine — or even likely a family like yours —
could be made impossible.

Josh Hawley poses a unique and existential threat to reproductive freedom,
and this is our one chance to put a stop to his crusade against our
freedoms. [ [link removed]- ]We can’t afford to give him another six years in the U.S.
Senate — so, I'm asking: Can you please add a donation to Lucas Kunce’s
campaign today so we can secure our freedoms?

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contribution instantly:

[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $10
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I warned you already this was a long email, so you can’t blame me for
wanting to tell you a bit more about Lucas Kunce and why I know he can
defeat Josh Hawley — but only if he has your help. Lucas is the Marine
veteran and born-and-raised Missourian taking Hawley on this November.
He’s built a record-breaking movement and is drawing huge crowds at events
across the state.

And he’s even sharing the ballot this November with a referendum to end
the Hawley-backed abortion ban in Missouri, which will be a huge boost for
Democratic turnout just as it has been in red and purple states across the
country in recent elections.

[ [link removed]- ]New York Times headline: Abortion Rights Fuel Big Democratic Wins, and
Hopes for 2024

[ [link removed]- ]CHIP IN TO ELECT LUCAS

Not long ago, Missourians came together to defeat Todd Akin after his
extreme views on abortion came to light, but that didn’t happen overnight.

Akin exposed himself in August of that election year, and a poll that same
month showed him with an 11% lead. It took weeks and MONTHS of hard work,
advertising, and organizing to expose Akin’s extremism to Missouri voters
— and because we all came together, Missourians rejected Akin on Election
Day by a 15% margin (a total change of 26% from August).

And while you might be surprised to hear about Democrats doing that well
in a red state, that kind of result isn’t rare in Missouri.

In our last U.S. Senate race that took place in a presidential election,
Jason Kander outperformed the presidential ticket by 16%, nearly defeating
incumbent Roy Blunt, who had the entire GOP establishment behind him. In
fact, the race against Blunt got close with almost identical timing to the
race against Akin — Kander was polling by as much as 14% behind Blunt, but
after pushing hard on ads and organizing starting in the fall, the race
was neck-and-neck.

[ [link removed]- ]On top, a Spectrum News headline: Recent poll found Hawley was the
least popular GOP senator up for reelection among voters. In the middle,
AP headline: Missouri abortion-rights campaign turns in more than double
the needed signatures to get on the ballot. On the bottom, a quote from
Jason Kander in the KC Star: 'Lucas Kunce can defeat Josh Hawley. Anyone
who cares about democracy, reproductive freedom, and working families,
this race should be a priority.'

[ [link removed]- ]CHIP IN TO BEAT HAWLEY

Now I’m going to say something you may not want to hear, but it is true
and important for this race: Josh Hawley is more extreme than Donald Trump
and almost every Republican on reproductive freedom. In fact, he
objectively has the worst record on reproductive rights of any U.S.
Senator. That means we don’t have to wait for Hawley to have a “Todd Akin
moment” — his entire six years in the Senate has been one.

But it’s an election year, which means Josh Hawley will be telling all
sorts of lies to voters claiming he’s not responsible for this assault on
our freedoms. And that’s where you and me come in.

We need to help Lucas expose Hawley’s anti-freedom crusade to Missouri
voters on TV, online, at their doors, and in their mailboxes, and that
takes resources. [ [link removed]- ]So if it wasn’t clear already, your support could
make all the difference in this race — will you join me in helping Lucas
beat Josh Hawley by donating any amount you can today to his campaign?

If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your
contribution instantly:

[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $10
[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $25
[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $30
[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $50
[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $100
[ [link removed]- ]Contribute $250
[ [link removed]- ]Give another amount

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this,
John.

I hope you’ll join me in supporting Lucas.

Andy Cohen


 


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Paid for by Lucas Kunce for Missouri.

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