Missouri is poised to legalize abortion after voters Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment designed to overturn one of the most restrictive bans in the nation.
The proposal was passing 52.3% to 47.6% as of 1 a.m. Wednesday in nearly complete results. The Associated Press called the vote for the amendment a few hours earlier.
“Tonight, we've done something that many thought was impossible,” said Mallory Schwarz of Abortion Action Missouri. “Through the sheer will and power of the people across ZIP codes and backgrounds, age and party, race and creed, Missouri becomes the first state to end a total abortion ban at the ballot box.”
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Amendment 3 places language in the Missouri Constitution legalizing abortion up to fetal viability, which is usually around 24 weeks.
Now that the amendment passed, abortion rights proponents plan to file lawsuits to strike down the state’s near-total ban.
“While passing Amendment 3 is a crucial step in restoring access to reproductive freedom in Missouri, it is not the last step,” Luz María Henríquez of the ACLU of Missouri. “As attempts to undermine our new right ensue, we have to turn this extraordinary moment into an enduring movement.”
Some Missouri lawmakers have said they may try to place another measure on the ballot to either weaken or repeal Amendment 3. But some Republicans, including incoming House Speaker Jon Patterson, have said they don’t support that type of plan.
In a statement, Stephanie Bell of Missouri Stand With Women, a group formed to oppose Amendment 3, said: “This is not the result we wanted but despite being outspent by millions of dollars, life won in the majority of Missouri counties.”
“Our work to protect the safety of women and the dignity of life continues,” Bell said. “Life supporters will not sit back and watch as Big Abortion works to dismantle all the health and safety protections put in place to protect women and babies. We will continue to fight and ultimately be victorious against the forces who see no value in life.”
While Amendment 3 ended up failing most of the state’s rural areas, it won in fairly GOP areas like St. Charles and Buchanan counties. It also did especially well in St. Louis County, getting roughly 67% of the vote there.
A long journey
Tuesday’s successful vote marks a seismic victory for abortion rights supporters, who’ve seen their political influence dwindle as the state tilted toward the GOP.
After years of passing scores of abortion restrictions, Missouri made most abortions illegal after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The current law makes no exceptions for women who become pregnant because of rape or incest — only medical emergencies.
Passage of the amendment is a huge loss for Missouri Republicans who made opposition to abortion rights a central part of their agenda since they took over the General Assembly in the early 2000s.
Abortion rights proponents in Missouri faced a long road to Tuesday’s victory. They had to slog through a number of lawsuits over Amendment 3’s cost estimate and ballot summary language. After thousands of volunteers helped gather enough signatures, the proposal nearly was struck from the ballot before the Missouri Supreme Court allowed it on a 4-3 vote.
Abortion rights backers also had to deal with a failed effort from Missouri legislators to place a separate ballot item before voters to make the Missouri Constitution harder to amend — which was aimed at preventing the abortion legalization measure from passing.
“Politicians tried to block this campaign from even getting off the ground and starting, and they failed,” Henríquez said.
A campaign committee supporting Amendment 3 ended up raising more than $30 million and galvanizing abortion rights backers, particularly in suburban areas. Public polling also showed that the plan had support from a minority of Republican respondents, which was a sign that the near-total ban wasn’t universally popular.
“I have family members who have always been in that group, and now they're like: This is just too far, too much,” said Richmond Heights resident Katrina Dalbey. “There's so much of a gray area when it comes to abortion. Just picking one side and doubling down on it is not what we see as strong leadership and pro-life.”
While the “no” side was heavily outspent, it did get a last-minute cash infusion — including a $1 million donation from a group linked to conservative legal activist Leonard Leo. Abortion rights opponents sought to rally the state’s religious voters who feel that the procedure is morally wrong.
They also sought to point out what they felt could be unintended consequences of Amendment 3, including allowing for abortions late in pregnancy and expanding gender-affirming care for minors.
“There are lots of provisions within this that would be enshrined into our constitution that I think are causing lots of Missourians very real concerns,” said Stephanie Bell with the anti-Amendment 3 group Missouri Stands with Women.
Amendment 3 backers said those types of arguments were misleading scare tactics. They also cast serious doubt that judges would interpret the measure to legalize things like gender transition surgery for minors.
This story has been updated.
