Originally published at National Catholic Register
Missourians on Tuesday voted to overturn the state’s near-ban on abortion and enshrine a provision guaranteeing “reproductive freedom” in the state constitution.
Voters narrowly approved Amendment 3 on Nov. 5, which adds a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” to the state constitution, threatening to undo decades of pro-life gains.
Missouri was one of the first states to fully ban abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and has not had a functioning abortion clinic within its borders for years.
The measure prohibits “any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women,” according to the secretary of state’s office.
It mandates that the government “shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” including “prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.”
The amendment is set to come into effect Dec. 6, teeing up years of litigation as pro-abortion advocates are expected to sue to remove each of Missouri’s pro-life protections in light of the new constitutional provision.
The amendment’s appearance on the ballot
