Missouri News Network
Missourians decided to protect abortion rights in the state last week. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the issue.
Voters rejected Amendment 3, a Republican-backed effort to overturn reproductive health protections added to the state constitution just two years ago. The measure failed 55.5% to 44.5%.
The results leave questions about how Republican lawmakers might approach abortion policy in the next legislative session, particularly after voters also approved Amendment 6, which makes it more difficult for legislators to overturn citizen-approved laws.
Amendment 6 requires an 80% vote in both chambers of the Legislature before lawmakers can propose changes to voter-approved laws or constitutional amendments. The requirement also applies to the abortion-rights amendment approved by Missouri voters in 2024.
Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly who created the abortion amendment, said the new requirement makes another legislature-led attempt to restrict abortion unlikely for now.
“I don’t see another amendment in the near future,” Lewis said. “That was the most moderate proposal that could be put on the ballot that would pass.”
But Lewis anticipates future legislation on abortion in the state. He said either citizens or lawmakers will almost certainly continue the fight.
Gov. Mike Kehoe also expressed disappointment in the election results and pledged to continue advocating against abortion.
Missouri Right to Life’s State Political Action Committee also said it would continue working with lawmakers on abortion policy.
“We will also continue working with the Legislature to protect the innocent preborn persons in our state,” the committee said.
For abortion-rights advocates, Tuesday’s results were cause for celebration.
Mallory Schwartz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, said six clinics currently provide abortions across Missouri. One is in St. Louis: Central West End Health Center.
“We protected the patients who don’t have to cancel their appointments, who can count on being able to get care in their community,” Schwartz said.
The vote preserves protections approved in 2024, including prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care and miscarriage care.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal constitutional protections for abortion in 2022, Missouri enacted a previously approved trigger ban that nearly eliminated access to the procedure.
A citizen-led initiative in 2024 restored the right to reproductive healthcare in the state. It passed 51.6% to 48.4%.
Republican legislators brought abortion back to the ballot this year with a proposal that would have banned the procedure except in cases of rape and incest during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment also included provisions for ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, threats to the mother’s life and certain fetal anomalies.
It also would have placed an existing ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the state constitution, including access to puberty blockers, hormone drugs and sex change surgeries.
That provision was seen as an effort to attract more votes for the proposed abortion ban. Most of the advertising in favor of Amendment 3 focused on gender-affirming care.
Some voters opposed Amendment 3 because they wanted to preserve abortion access. Others opposed it because they believed the restrictions did not go far enough.
Schwartz said frustration with lawmakers played a role in the outcome.
“I think that people were mad that they had to do it again,” Schwartz said. “I think that they felt that politicians were trying to overturn their vote and ignore what they demanded in ’24, and disrespect their voice and their vote.”
Saline, Greene, Jefferson and Cass counties switched from opposing abortion rights in 2024 to supporting them Tuesday.
Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, cautioned that Republican lawmakers could still look for ways to restrict abortion.
“The original Amendment 3 is going to stand in the Constitution, so it would be hard for them to override it a lot,” Steinhoff said, “but there’s always creative nuances, and we will just have to see what they’re willing to do.”
Schwartz said the reproductive health protections in Missouri’s Constitution could prevent lawmakers from using some tactics they have pursued in the past, including additional licensing requirements and inspections for abortion providers.
“We are under no illusion that this work is over,” Schwartz said. “But we have an incredible movement for abortion rights and bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom in our state.”
Missouri News Network reporters Hailey Sanford, Anika Austvold, Jordan Davis and Emily Skidmore contributed to this report.