Voters approved Missouri’s radical Amendment 3 on Election Day despite the best efforts of churches, pro-life groups, and individual Christians. The outcome cleared the way to undo the state’s near-total ban, one of the nation’s most pro-life laws, that protects unborn children past the point of a fetus’ viability.
The state’s pro-life leaders responded with both sadness and resolve to continue the efforts to protect unborn life, while providing care for women in challenging situations.
“Yesterday pro-life Missourians turned out for truth to protect innocent lives. Unfortunately, the millions of dollars in outside money from George Soros, Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry were able to deceive Missourians about Amendment 3 and we will now have unlimited abortion in our Missouri Constitution,” stated Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life. She continued, “this is not the end of our mission – it is just the beginning.”
Bev Ehlen. president of Liberty Link Missouri, said she was grateful the nation elected a pro-life president but was grieved in Missouri’s passage of the amendment.
“Satan’s target was on our children and he hit the bullseye,” Ehlen said. “Putting Amendment 3 into our Missouri Constitution will allow abortion to birth, remove abortion business regulation, and strip parents of their right to decide if their minor child should have an abortion, transgender treatment, and more.”
The amendment failed in all but 9 of the state’s 115 counties. It passed by just 110,000 votes with most coming from Jackson, Platte, and Clay Counties in Kansas City metro, as well as Boone, St. Charles and St. Louis Counties.
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Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, heralded the passage as the beginning of a new era. In a Zoom call with supporters, they announced plans to begin performing abortions in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis after getting judicial support to block current pro-life laws.
“This is only the first step to realizing and fully implementing the protections of Amendment 3. It’s certainly not the last step,” said Richard Muniz, interim president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers.
Planned Parenthood is targeting the state’s laws that require a 72-hour waiting period, bans on telemedicine do-it-yourself abortions, and requirements that abortionists have admitting privileges at hospitals.
Residents of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota also went to the polls on the issue, with the majority of the ballot measures seeking to amend efforts passed in pro-life states whose leaders moved to restrict abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
- Abortion rights amendments also passed in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Montana voted to amend the state constitution to “expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy,.”
- Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they will need to pass it again in 2026 for it to take effect.
- Another measure, which bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes,” prevailed in New York. It does not contain the word “abortion” but rather bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy.”
- In Arizona, voters were asked to amend the state constitution to allow abortions through the 24-week mark. The measure enshrines a “fundamental right” to abortion before fetal viability when a fetus has a “significant likelihood” of surviving outside the uterus. The amendment replaces the current law that bans abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Pro-life victories
Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving existing restrictions in place.
- Florida residents voted on Amendment 4, the Right to Abortion Initiative, which aimed to overturn that law by prohibiting measures that restrict abortion before viability. In Florida, constitutional amendments must get 60 percent of the vote, not a simple majority, to pass. Amendment 4 received majority support among voters but failed to meet the threshold.
- South Dakota voters’ defeat of its abortion measure prevents some regulations related to the health of the woman after 12 weeks. The state currently has a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy with some exceptions.
- Nebraska passed a ballot amendment prohibiting abortion beyond the first three months of pregnancy.
As for Missouri, Klein stated they’re moving on with the work at hand. “As we move forward in Missouri, it is our goal to help women in difficult situations so that we can make abortion and other life-changing decisions unthinkable and families can grow and thrive in the State of Missouri.”
Ehlen also said this is not the time to be silenced by the loss. “As heartsick as we are, we cannot allow despair to discourage us, there is still a lot of work to be done. Let us take time to rest, seek God, spend time with our family, and then rally back together even stronger than before,” Ehlen stated.
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice