(The Beacon) – Missourians could be among the nation’s first voters to reverse a near-total abortion ban when they weigh in on Amendment 3 in the Nov. 5 election.
Missouri was the first state to enact a near-total ban on abortion in June 2022. Missouri officials signed paperwork triggering the ban to take effect just minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, which established access to abortion in 1973.
Now, Missouri voters have the chance to reverse that ban.
Ten states could affirm the right to an abortion in their state constitutions in November. Like Missouri’s Amendment 3, most measures would guarantee the right to an abortion until fetal viability, or later in the pregnancy if the life of the woman is in danger.
Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, seven states have voted on abortion-related measures. Voters have sided with the abortion-rights outcome each time.
Missouri is one of 14 states nationwide that have a near-total abortion ban in place.
Voters in South Dakota will also be among some of the first in the nation to have the chance to reverse their state’s near-total abortion ban this November. And voters in Florida, where abortion is banned after six weeks, will have the opportunity to vote on an abortion-rights ballot measure.
Amendment 3 needs a simple majority statewide to pass.
The fate of the proposal was in limbo until the final hours before ballot printing for the Nov. 5 election began.
A lawsuit filed by Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold and others alleged the Amendment 3 campaign was not clear enough about what parts of state law the initiative proposal would affect. On Friday, a circuit court judge agreed. The amendment’s campaign appealed the ruling and the state Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision Tuesday, keeping the amendment on the ballot.
What’s inside Amendment 3?
Missouri’s Amendment 3 is titled the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative.
The amendment’s main objective is to restore access to abortion in Missouri. It would broadly declare that the government cannot deny or infringe on a person’s right to reproductive freedom, including the decision to get an abortion.
It would allow the General Assembly to pass restrictions on abortion after fetal viability, which is defined as the time when a fetus can survive outside of the mother’s womb. That time is generally agreed to be at the end of the second trimester, at about 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The amendment also says the government cannot interfere with a person’s decisions about things including, but not limited to, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, miscarriage care and respectful birthing conditions.
Any laws that the government may want to pass related to reproductive health care must use the least restrictive means, the ballot measure states. It would also declare that any governmental interest in limiting those reproductive rights is valid only if it would improve or maintain the health of the person seeking care and follows widely accepted medical standards.
Even in the years before Missouri’s near-total ban, abortion was heavily restricted in the state.
Polling from St. Louis University and YouGov published in late August found that 52% of likely Missouri voters supported the ballot measure, while 34% opposed it and 14% weren’t sure.
Those numbers have changed since February 2024, when 44% of likely voters said they supported the same ballot measure language, while 37% were opposed and 19% were not sure.
The measure is broadly backed by Democrats statewide and is sponsored by a coalition called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The group is backed by others like Abortion Action Missouri, a group that advocates for abortion rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, and the campaign arms of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action.
Amendment 3 is broadly opposed by Republicans. Missouri Stands With Women is the campaign leading the opposition effort. Missouri Right to Life, the group’s most prolific anti-abortion group, also opposes the amendment.
Restoring abortion access via Missouri Amendment 3
Currently in Missouri, abortion is banned at any point in pregnancy except to save the life of the mother. Missouri’s ban does not have rape or incest exceptions.
Before the 2022 ban, abortions were prohibited after eight weeks of pregnancy.
Amendment 3 would allow Missouri lawmakers to pass laws regulating abortion after fetal viability. But it would bar the government from interfering with an abortion after fetal viability that in the “good faith judgment” of a health care professional is needed to protect the life of the mother, or their physical or mental health.
Prohibiting punishment
Missouri’s current law also makes it a class B felony to perform an abortion outside of a medical emergency for the mother, which could result in the person who performed the abortion having their medical license suspended or revoked.
Amendment 3 would undo that part of state law and pass constitutional protections for people who help a Missourian get an abortion, or manage their miscarriage or stillbirth. The amendment would also bar any sort of penalties for those seeking an abortion, or penalties based on a person’s pregnancy outcome, such as a miscarriage or stillbirth.
It would also prevent the government from discriminating against those who seek any form of reproductive health care, including prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion or miscarriage care.
How does Missouri Amendment 3 compare to abortion measures in other states?
Missouri’s initiative is similar to one passed in Michigan in 2022. The measure passed with nearly 57% support.
The Michigan measure, Proposal 3, had the same definition of reproductive freedom, but added things like sterilization and infertility care as part of its definition. Missouri’s measure does not explicitly include sterilization or infertility care.
Since Michigan voters approved the measure, a number of court challenges have taken place as the Democratic-controlled legislature has worked to roll back some of the abortion restrictions that were previously in place. Democrats in 2023 passed the Reproductive Health Act, which included provisions requiring a 24-hour waiting period before a mother can have an abortion.
The legislation also repealed provisions prohibiting insurance companies from covering abortions unless they pay an extra cost and repealed Michigan’s law that barred abortions used late in a pregnancy.
A judge blocked some of those provisions in June, including the 24-hour waiting period and the state’s informed consent law, citing Proposition 3’s passage. It also blocked a ban against nurse practitioners, certified midwives and physician’s assistants from performing abortions. The ruling was supported by abortion-rights advocates.
Missouri is following the same political path to getting abortion on the ballot as Ohio, which passed a citizen-led ballot question last year that enshrined the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution.
Republicans in both Missouri and Ohio have prioritized measures that would make citizen-led initiatives more difficult to pass. It was a top priority in the Republican-led Missouri General Assembly during the 2024 session. At the time, lawmakers tied the issue to potential ballot measures on abortion.
There have already been a number of lawsuits associated with Missouri’s Amendment 3. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office has the task of writing ballot language to give voters a summary of the constitutional amendment, but the language was thrown out after lengthy court battles over the summary he wrote.
