A proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot is the most extreme in the country. Voters in the state should reject it.
After celebrating being the first abortion-free state when the Dobbs decision was handed down in June 2022, Missouri is now facing a new battle to protect women and their preborn children. However, abortion advocates are not just aiming to reverse Roe. They have their sights set on something far more extreme.
Missourians are facing the decision of their lifetimes at the ballot box this week. Outside interest groups have poured $30 million into an effort to enshrine abortion in the state’s constitution. Missouri is one of ten states facing ballot issues during this election. However, none of them are as extreme as the one in the Show Me State.
The ballot issue, listed as Amendment 3, at first glance may seem rather innocuous to those who may be uninformed about abortion or find themselves seeking middle ground on the issue. The ads in favor of this amendment have focused on emotional appeals to voters. The ads claim that if the amendment does not pass, then women won’t have access to necessary medical care should they have a fetal anomaly or experience a miscarriage.
But all 50 states across the US currently have these provisions in place — including Missouri. § 188.015(8) RSMo already addresses this issue with its definition of a medical emergency. If a hospital is not providing medical care for a pregnant woman when her life is in danger, that hospital is in danger of breaking the law; women in Missouri seeking emergency care are not criminalized.
Additionally, abortion advocates have attempted to focus on the language that centers around abortions until viability, which may make some people feel more at ease with voting yes. The ballot language asks voters, “Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to.. allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?” Yet viability, as in other states facing similar constitutional amendments, includes when a baby can and will feel pain. Viability will be subjectively determined by the person performing the abortion procedure. Because of the ambiguity of this proposed constitutional amendment, anyone with a medical certification of any kind will be able to perform an abortion — without any legal recourse should complications arise.
If Missourians look closer, they will see that there are additional exceptions that will allow for abortion beyond the age of viability for the baby, which is typically around 24 weeks gestation. These exceptions allow for abortion for the health of the mother through all nine months of pregnancy. Again, current laws already in place protect the physical health of the mother in Missouri.
This amendment would also allow for abortion up until birth when any mental health condition is expressed by the mother and identified by the person performing the abortion. Section 4 of the amendment states that abortions may be performed after fetal viability if “needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.” Polls have clearly shown that Missourians are not comfortable when educated about these facts that are hidden in plain sight.
While these are clearly uncomfortable truths for many voters in Missouri, perhaps the most shocking is that if this constitutional amendment should pass, it will make the state’s abortion regime one of the most extreme in the country, if not the most extreme. It would, for example, make Missouri less protective of women and their preborn babies than Colorado, a state notorious for abortions through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason.
Current Colorado law states that abortion providers are not required to gain parental consent prior to an abortion procedure, but they must notify one of the parents, in the hope of thwarting sex abusers from taking minors to obtain abortions without the knowledge of the parents (Colorado Abortion Law, www.plannedparenthood.org). If Missourians vote yes on Amendment 3, though, they will be supporting an effort that removes both parental consent and notification regarding abortion procedures in their state. It will set the stage for the destruction of parental rights and the enabling of sex abusers to prey upon their children.
As if attacking the lives of innocent children both in the womb and as minors weren’t enough, this proposed constitutional amendment — labeled as reproductive health care — unfortunately does not stop with abortion. In fact, its language has legal analysts shocked and concerned regarding other issues that will fall under the ambiguous titles of reproductive health care and reproductive freedom. Section 2 of the amendment states its application to “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.” Missourians should be concerned that the amendment would allow medicalized gender transition for minors. After all, Planned Parenthood’s website clearly defines such operations as reproductive rights by saying, “Trans, intersex, and reproductive rights are inextricably linked, and there is so much work to be done in these areas.”
If you are reading this and thinking this sounds extreme, you would be correct. This is the most radical and broad language on an abortion ballot issue during this election cycle. In comparison, while Florida’s similar ballot issue contains just 39 words to amend the state’s constitution, Missouri’s includes more than 450 words, including what it labels reproductive health care. This expansive wording makes it possible for things that have not even been imagined at this time to be covered by this constitutional amendment in the future.
The fight against Amendment 3 is more than just a political issue. It is a profound moral challenge that will shape the future of Missouri culture and its ability to protect women and children. As Missourians head to the ballot box, they must consider the impact of their choices not only on women but on the unborn children whose lives hang in the balance. By advocating a culture of life and providing support for mothers, the pro-life movement is committed to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to live, grow, and thrive.
Together, Missourians can stand firm in their values and protect the sanctity of life against the encroaching tide of abortion advocacy. They must reject this loophole-loaded amendment and send a message to the abortion industry that it has pushed too far in a state known for protecting children and families.
Vote NO on Amendment 3.