Missouri Voters Reverse Abortion Ban

Amendment 3 passes, restoring and protecting reproductive rights

You did it, Missouri! Republicans tried everything in their power to keep abortion off the ballot and to stop voters from having a say, but you won anyway. A huge congratulations to Missourians for Constitutional Freedom.

This win is special: Missouri was the first state to enact an abortion ban after Roe was overturned—and tonight marks the first time that voters have overturned a total abortion ban. So in addition to being a vital protection for Missouri citizens, this feels symbolic in the best way. 

What’s also remarkable about Missouri’s win is that pro-choice activists persevered despite enormous Republican-enacted hurdles. From the get-go, conservative lawmakers and leaders tried to stop voters from having the chance to have a direct say on abortion rights—holding up the signature-gathering process for months. 

You probably remember this: Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey refused to sign off on a cost estimate for the measure. (This is what voters see that tells them how much an amendment is estimated to cost the state, if passed.) And even though the state auditor estimated that restoring abortion rights would cost the state $51,000, Bailey wanted the number changed to $51 billion. 

After months of stalling and legal fights, the state Supreme Court finally forced Bailey to sign off on the correct estimate. But he wasn’t done yet: Bailey said that if Amendment 3 won, he wouldn’t enforce the measure. He insisted that the state would have to hire outside counsel, to the tune of millions of dollars (a cost he wanted included in the ballot summary that voters saw, of course). 

The attacks on democracy continued on with Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who drafted a biased ballot summary that claimed Amendment 3 “would allow for “dangerous, unregulated and unrestricted abortion” by those without a medical license.” He fought for months to get the propaganda/summary in front of voters this November, but was thankfully stopped by the courts. 

This was happening at the same time that anti-abortion groups were sending voters text messages to Missouri voters claiming that pro-choice petitioners were trying to steal their identities. Anti-abortion groups also lied constantly about the measure, claiming that Amendment 3 would allow children to get gender-affirming surgery without their guardians’ permission, permit abortion ‘up until birth,’ and eliminate health and safety standards for abortion.

These activists also sued to keep Amendment 3 off the ballot—a lawsuit that was supported by Ashcroft and other Missouri Republicans. In fact, while this last-minute lawsuit was still being fought in the courts, Ashcroft preemptively decertified the amendment! The state Supreme Court forced him to put it back on the ballot.

That kind of collusion between Missouri Republicans and anti-abortion groups has been par for the course. Anti-abortion activists were caught on tape admitting how they were coordinating efforts to stop voters from having a say on the measure. 

All of which is to say, the fact that this measure passed in spite of all of these hurdles is downright incredible. That’s how much voters support abortion rights. 

Congratulations, Missouri—we knew you would do it!