ST. LOUIS — Missouri voters weighed in on several statewide issues in the Nov. 5 election, but it was Amendment 3 that garnered the most attention nationwide. Voters said “yes” to reversing the state’s abortion ban, the AP projected Tuesday night.
Missouri was one of nine states to include an abortion rights measure on the 2024 general election ballot.
“We mourn the lives that will be lost under Amendment 3,” said Susan B. Anthony, Pro-Life Director of State Affairs Sue Liebel, in a news release Tuesday night. The SBA called the results "disappointing" and said it would make Missouri "far less free."
Amendment 3, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, legalizes abortion and reverses Missouri’s strict abortion ban that went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. It prevents the government from restricting a person’s right to make and carry out decisions related to reproductive health care. However, the amendment allows the government to regulate abortion after “fetal liability” – the point in a pregnancy when the fetus would be likely to survive outside of the uterus without extraordinary medical measures, or about 24 weeks -- so long as it does not interfere or restrict abortion in the event it’s determined to be necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
Despite political signs that have claimed the amendment would allow tax-paid ender-affirming surgeries and gender-transition care for kids, 5 On Your Side Political Analyst Anita Manion said there’s nothing in the amendment that indicates that.
"Missouri has legislation that has a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, so even if that were part of this legislation, then there would be a conflict there," Manion said.
The amendment to the state constitution will take effect 30 days after the election, Dec. 5. But just as the amendment faced legal challenges before making it onto the Nov. 5 ballot, it will likely face legal challenges after passing.
State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, was among the anti-abortion activists who sued to keep Amendment 3 off the ballot. She foreshadowed a long road of challenges ahead when she spoke to the Missouri Independent back in September.
“This is not the end all be all,” Coleman told the Missouri Independent. “And I think you will see efforts, win or lose, for Missourians to get another say in this.”
