Updated at 5:23 p.m. Aug. 13 with reaction from supporters and opponents of abortion rights
Missouri voters will decide in November whether to legalize abortion in the state.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office announced Tuesday that a proposed constitutional amendment ending Missouri’s abortion ban gathered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
Ashcroft’s office also reported that a petition that would legalize sports betting through a constitutional amendment and a proposed statute change raising the minimum wage from $12.30 to $13.75 in 2025 and $15 in 2026 also garnered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
Through the initiative, which will appear as Amendment 3, abortion would be legal in Missouri under the state’s constitution up to the point of fetal viability.
According to the initiative language, it also bars the government from interfering with a person’s “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” In addition to abortion, that includes prenatal care, postpartum care and birth control.
The amendment allows the legislature to pass legislation regulating abortion after fetal viability “provided that under no circumstances shall the Government deny, interfere with, delay or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
Currently, all abortions are illegal in the state except to save the mother. There are no exceptions for rape and incest.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom turned in more than double the roughly 171,000 signatures needed in May. Additionally, an initiative must collect signatures of 8% of legal voters in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, called the amendment appearing on the ballot a “monumental achievement.”
“This November, Missouri voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard and return decisions about abortion to their rightful place, with women, their families and their doctors, not politicians,” Sweet said.
Stephanie Bell, with Missouri Stands with Women, which opposes the amendment, said in a statement it would legalize abortion at any point during a pregnancy.
However, according to the ballot language, abortion would be legal only up to the point of fetal viability.
Bell also said: “Missourians are smart and they don’t like their freedom and safety being stolen from them, and once they learn the real truth about this amendment, will vote it down.”
The petition met the required 8% threshold in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. The 6th and 8th districts did not meet the requirement.
According to the secretary of state’s office, the number of valid signatures in the districts that met the threshold totaled more than 241,000.
The petition faced multiple lawsuits that ultimately shortened the length of time the organization had to collect signatures.
One of the suits was over the amendment’s fiscal note, with the auditor and secretary of state’s office disagreeing over who had the authority to finalize the note that details the provision's cost.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office refused to approve the note created by Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick issued on the petition. Bailey's office wanted Fitzpatrick to redo it to say the abortion ban would cost Missouri billions of dollars.
Both a Cole County circuit judge and the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against Bailey.
Another dealt with the ballot language initially written by Ashcroft.
The Missouri Western Court of Appeals ruled that Ashcroft’s summaries contained politically partisan language. The court upheld, with few changes, a revised summary written by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem.
The ballot language for Amendment 3 is as follows:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- Establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid;
- 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?
State governmental entities estimate no costs or savings but unknown impact. Opponents estimate a potentially significant loss of state revenue.
The amendment also has the following as its Fair Ballot Language, which appears near a sample ballot posted at each polling place:
“A 'yes' vote will enshrine the right to abortion at any time of a pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution. Additionally, it will prohibit 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.
A 'no' vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri.
If passed, this measure may reduce local taxes while the impact to state taxes is unknown.”
Tori Schaefer, with the ACLU of Missouri, said the organization is exploring a challenge to the fair ballot language.
The amendment’s appearance on the ballot changes the landscape of the 2024 November election.
Democrats are hoping an uptick in voter turnout for the abortion amendment will help them at the ballot box.
That includes the governor’s race. Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, the Republican nominee for governor, said in June if the initiative were to pass it would be “more critical than ever, that you have a pro-life governor in office to make sure that we continue to do everything we can, that will be allowed under the law if it were to pass, to continue to protect innocent life.”
In a statement issued after Tuesday’s announcement, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, the Democratic nominee for governor, said, “This November Missourians will vote to restore their rights and elect a governor who will keep the government out of their personal lives and ensure this ballot initiative gets implemented to its fullest extent.”
Sports betting
The initiative to legalize sports betting comes after the state legislature failed in multiple sessions to pass such a measure.
While there was interest from Republicans and Democrats in approving sports betting, it was consistently held up by Sen. Denny Hoskins, who wanted to tie the issue with a bill that would also legalize video gaming machines.
The current initiative, which will be Amendment 2 on the ballot, has the backing of Missouri sports organizations, including the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.
Through the amendment, anyone 21 and older would be able to bet online and at physical locations including casinos and professional sports betting districts.
Sports betting on high school or youth events as well as betting on specific collegiate athletes on Missouri teams would not be allowed.
The proposed amendment also allows the state legislature to enact laws consistent with the amendment.
Minimum wage
Proposition A is the proposed statute change that would raise the minimum wage in Missouri.
Through the change, the minimum wage would increase to $13.75 an hour in 2025 and again to $15 an hour in 2026.
The proposition also would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
Governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions would not be subject to the minimum wage increase.
