Missouri Republicans approved a new referendum on Wednesday that would repeal a recently passed amendment allowing abortions throughout pregnancy in the state.
The proposed constitutional amendment would go before voters in November 2026 or even sooner if Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) calls a special election, Associated Press reported. The measure, called House Joint Resolution 73, would protect unborn babies throughout pregnancy, with exceptions for fetal anomalies, medical emergencies, and rape and incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
“Abortion is the greatest tragedy in the world right now,” Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman said while explaining her efforts to repeal Amendment 3, which passed in November 2024. [If someone’s fine with] “taking the life of an innocent, then probably you can justify whatever you want.”
According to leading pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Missouri will be the first state to offer voters a pro-life amendment after passing a pro-abortion ballot measure.
“We applaud the Missouri legislature for passing this pro-life amendment to save lives, protect parents’ rights, and safeguard women and girls. We call on Missouri GOP leaders in Washington and across the state to offer their strong, vocal support of this measure,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said.
“When GOP leaders engage, we win on abortion ballot measures because the abortion lobby’s campaigns are exposed and their lies are refuted,” she added. “Republicans in Missouri must be as devoted as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Pete Ricketts were in their 2024 ballot measure fights to explain the need to undo the amendment that is stripping away the most fundamental rights of babies, parents, women and girls.”
RELATED: Abortion Measures Pass in Seven States, Fail in Three
The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 triggered a Missouri law that restricted most abortions. In response, abortion activists gathered enough signatures to put Amendment 3 on the ballot, and voters passed the measure by almost 52 percent.
Amendment 3 allows “abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment also permits abortions after that if “in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional [an abortion] is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
The measure also states:
The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decision about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.
…
The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the Government demonstrates that such actions is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Any detail, interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid.
The measure further states that no person “shall be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.”
“Nor shall any person assisting a person in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with person’s consent be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action for doing so,” the measure reads.
Sam Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri, noted that “most voters are opposed to most abortions in Missouri but do want to allow for abortions with limited exceptions.”
“Despite what voters were sold before Election Day, as soon as Amendment 3 passed the abortion lobby brought litigation to perform late-term abortions, end parental consent and remove every safety regulation on their industry,” Dannenfelser said. “Amendment 3 is far too extreme and dangerous in a state where Planned Parenthood was caught using moldy abortion equipment on women and offering to transport a 13-year-old girl out of state without her parents knowing.”
Democrats and abortion activists are decrying the pro-life measure, with state Sen. Tracy McCreery (D) calling it “an attempt to mislead and lie to the voters.”
“Abortion rights won in this state six months ago, and mark my words: Missourians will protect reproductive freedom again,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
