What you need to know: Constitutional Amendment No. 3 – Reproductive Rights (Abortion)

By Kathy Feist

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
— Establish the right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any government interference of that right presumed valid;
— Remove Missouri’s ban on abortion;
— Allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient;
— Require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and
— Allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?

The ballot language for Amendment 3 seems straightforward, but as might be expected confusion swirls in an effort to persuade voters’ opinions. Two recent polls have found that 50 percent or more of Missouri voters are in favor of a woman’s right to an abortion. The findings have intensified the campaign against Amendment 3 which at times has purposely included misleading information.

The Current Law

Until recently, women in Missouri were able to get an abortion up to 22 weeks from her last menstrual period. When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, making abortion illegal in 2022, Missouri was one of the first states to sign into effect a “trigger law” that immediately banned abortions in Missouri. The law provides two exceptions: when there is a medical emergency to prevent the death of the mother and when there is a serious risk of irreversible physical impairment to a major organ. Rape and incest were not exceptions.

Missouri’s law also comes down hard on health care providers. Those performing an abortion can be found guilty of a class B felony, resulting in five to 15 years in prison and having their medical license suspended or revoked.

Women receiving an abortion cannot be prosecuted in violation of the law.

Voting Yes

Voting yes to Amendment 3 means the pregnant woman, not the government, has the right to make a decision about her reproductive health care, which includes abortion and contraceptives.

Voting yes would remove the current ban on abortion in Missouri and its penalties on health care providers that participate in abortions.

Most importantly voting yes means abortions would still be banned after Fetus Viability– when the fetus is able to survive on its own–around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The amendment also protects reproductive rights, such as access to in vitro fertilization and birth control.

Voting No

Voting no means the current law banning abortion should remain in effect as is.

Opponents to Amendment 3 have pushed a belief that voting yes would permit abortions past Fetus Viability and into the ninth month of pregnancy. Last year, a state appeals court ruling found that the wording on the ballot did not indicate that to be true.

Opponents have also sited “reproductive health care” in the ballot language as also meaning “gender-affirming care.” Polls show that most Missourians are against gender-affirming care for minors. However, it should be noted that gender-affirming care for minors is already illegal in Missouri.

Costs

“Local government entities estimate costs of $51,000 annually in reduced tax revenues. Opponents estimate a potentially significant loss to state revenue.” 

This final statement on the Amendment 3 ballot is based on Greene County’s, predicted annual revenue lost if the number of fetuses that had been aborted there (135) in 2020 had become tax-paying citizens. Green County (Springfield) was the only county that submitted a cost estimation to the state.

Missouri is one of nine states that have abortion on the ballots in November.