Politics
Missouri Republican lawmakers place measure on November ballot to repeal abortion rights amendment
The proposed constitutional amendment bundles an abortion ban with permanent restrictions on youth gender transition care.
The short version
- Missouri voters will decide in November on a new Amendment 3, which seeks to repeal a 2024 constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights.
- The legislative proposal pairs the abortion restrictions with a constitutional prohibition on gender transition care for minors.
- Opponents have mounted legal challenges and raised over $5 million to contest the measure, while courts ordered revisions to the ballot language to clarify the amendment's intent.
- Expedited appeals to the Missouri Supreme Court are anticipated on related blocked citizen initiatives.
Key facts
- Republican lawmakers placed a constitutional proposal named Amendment 3 on the November ballot that would repeal Missouri's voter-approved 2024 reproductive rights amendment and restore an abortion ban with limited exceptions.[ProPublica]
- The ballot measure also includes a constitutional ban on gender transition care for minors, provisions that largely parallel existing statutory prohibitions in Missouri law.[ProPublica]
- A state appeals court rewrote the official ballot summary after ruling that prior versions drafted by lawmakers and the secretary of state failed to explicitly inform voters that the proposal would repeal the 2024 abortion rights amendment.[ProPublica]
- The opposition coalition Stop the Ban raised over $5 million, including a $1.25 million contribution from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.[ProPublica]
- A circuit court upheld Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' decision to block two separate citizen initiatives regarding legislative alterations to voter measures and congressional redistricting.[ProPublica]
What remains uncertain
- The outcome of anticipated expedited appeals before the Missouri Supreme Court regarding the two blocked citizen ballot measures remains pending.[ProPublica]