Missouri Voters to Decide on Amendment 3, Aims to Restrict Abortion Access
The ballot measure seeks to repeal a previous amendment that protected reproductive freedom and would also ban gender-affirming care for minors.
Missourians will once again vote on abortion access as Amendment 3 appears on the ballot. This measure proposes to repeal a 2024 amendment that had enshrined the right to reproductive freedom, including abortion, in the state constitution.
If approved, Amendment 3 would prohibit most abortions, with exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape, or incest. For abortions due to rape or incest, the procedure would be limited to within 12 weeks of gestation.
Following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Missouri enacted a trigger ban, significantly curtailing abortion services. However, in November 2024, voters passed a different Amendment 3, which restored abortion rights. The current Amendment 3 aims to reverse that outcome.
Proponents of the new Amendment 3 argue it aligns more closely with the values of Missourians and provides protections for women and children. State Sen. Adam Schnelting, who sponsored the proposal, stated that the amendment is critical to offering a measure more in line with constituent values than the one narrowly passed two years prior.
The amendment also includes provisions to prohibit gender-affirming care procedures, cross-sex hormones, or puberty-blocking drugs for minors. While gender-affirming surgeries and treatments for minors are already illegal in Missouri under existing statute, proponents of Amendment 3 argue it would make such a ban permanent, as the current statutory ban expires in 2027.
Opponents contend that the inclusion of language on gender-affirming care is a tactic to obscure the amendment's primary goal of restricting abortion. Tori Schafer, director of the ACLU of Missouri, stated that politicians are attempting to mislead voters and overturn their previous decision, noting that supporters of Amendment 3 avoid mentioning abortion directly in their campaign ads because they believe abortion care is popular in Missouri.
Since the trigger ban took effect, Missouri's sole abortion clinic in St. Louis temporarily ceased operations. In 2023, the Guttmacher Institute reported that over 12,000 Missouri women traveled to neighboring states for abortion care. Additionally, the number of Missourians obtaining medication abortions via telehealth from out-of-state clinicians has nearly quadrupled in two years.
Abortion providers have reported that some patients experienced complications while waiting for care or had to leave the state for procedures, including those for fetal anomalies. Advocates recount instances of patients being denied care in emergency rooms or being forced to wait until their condition worsened to access treatment.
Supporters of the amendment, such as Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, argue that the 2024 vote was misleading and that the prior amendment enabled late-term abortions and removed safety regulations. They view Amendment 3 as a necessary measure to counter what they describe as an extreme outcome.
Missouri is among several states where abortion is a prominent issue on the November ballot. Voters in Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia will also consider measures related to abortion rights and reproductive freedom.