Missouri voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to repeal the constitutional abortion rights they approved in 2024 and replace them with substantially tighter restrictions.
Amendment 3 would allow abortion only in cases of medical emergencies, fetal anomalies and rape or incest, with a 12-week limit on the rape and incest exceptions. The current constitutional amendment protects abortion through fetal viability.
The measure also would prohibit certain gender-transition procedures for minors, including surgeries, cross-sex hormones and puberty-blocking drugs, with exceptions for specific medical conditions.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway recently voiced support for that provision.
“We’re not going to mutilate minors’ bodies before, I mean period, that should be in our state constitution,” Hanaway said.
The Republican-led Missouri Legislature placed Amendment 3 on the ballot.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.