A broadly worded amendment to enshrine abortion into the Missouri Constitution would transform the pro-life state into a haven for abortions.
The proposed measure, called Amendment 3, would allow abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment also permits abortions after that if “in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional [an abortion] is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
The measure also states:
The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decision about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.
…
The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the Government demonstrates that such actions is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Any detail, interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid.
The measure further states that no person “shall be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.”
“Nor shall any person assisting a person in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with person’s consent be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action for doing so,” the measure reads.
Abortion is currently outlawed in Missouri, except for in medical emergencies or to save a woman’s life. The abortion amendment would undo the state’s abortion restriction and would need 50.1 percent support to pass.
The group behind the measure is Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which is comprised of left-wing groups, including Abortion Action Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri, and the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates.
If the right to abortion is enshrined into the state constitution, Missouri will join its neighbors, Kansas and Illinois, in having laws that allow abortions until viability and throughout pregnancy in certain circumstances.
Out-of-state abortions in Missouri would also likely increase — as they have in Kansas in Illinois — as several states next to Missouri have laws restricting abortion throughout pregnancy with limited exceptions, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Nearby states Nebraska and Iowa also limit abortions — Iowa has a six-week restriction and Nebraska has a 12-week restriction, although Nebraska has two warring abortion measures on the ballot this year.
READ MORE: These Ten States Have Abortion on the Ballot in November
Missouri is one of ten states where abortion is on the ballot in November.
Ballot measures are particularly effective as an offensive weapon because they are basically irreversible. They change a state constitution, take precedence over laws passed by state legislatures, and can only be overturned by another ballot measure or lengthy legal battles. The measures are typically propped up by left-wing organizations and affiliates with deep pockets — such as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, out-of-state dark money groups, and billionaires with eugenicist leanings — often outspending pro-life organizations by double or triple.
Every pro-abortion-related ballot measure since the fall of Roe has been successful. During the 2022 special elections, Kansans rejected a ballot measure that would have established that the state Constitution does not include a right to abortion. During the 2022 midterms, voters in California, Michigan, and Vermont codified abortion into their Constitutions. At the same time, voters in Montana rejected a ballot measure that would have given rights to babies born alive in botched abortions. Voters in Kentucky also rejected an amendment similar to the one in Kansas. Last November, Ohioans also voted to codify the supposed right to abortion in their state Constitution via Issue 1.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
