Final pitch over Missouri abortion ban turns to fight over voter power

As Missouri voters prepare to decide whether to reinstate the state’s abortion ban, the final arguments over Amendment 3 are reaching beyond abortion itself.

The campaigns are linking the measure to other questions on Tuesday’s ballot and framing the election as a fight over who holds power in Missouri — voters, politicians or wealthy outside interests.

To supporters of Amendment 3, which aims to repeal the state’s 2024 reproductive rights amendment, the threat comes from wealthy out-of-state liberals trying to turn Missouri into a haven for abortion.

“No on 6. Tell billionaires keep their paws off our laws,” read signs at a Yes on 3 rally Tuesday in Arnold.

To opponents of Amendment 3 who are aiming to keep abortion legal, the threat comes from Republican politicians trying to overturn the will of Missouri voters.

“Vote No on 3. Vote No on A. Voters decide. Not politicians,” read signs at a Stop the Ban rally Saturday in St. Louis.

Proposition A is a referendum on a gerrymandered congressional map drawn last year by Republicans. Amendment 6 would require support from at least 80% of both legislative chambers for lawmakers to put a change to a voter-approved initiative back on the ballot. 

Both measures appear on the Nov. 3 ballot alongside Amendment 3.  

If Amendment 3 fails and Amendment 6 passes, it would be nearly impossible for the Republican-led statehouse to put another measure with abortion restrictions before voters.

Amber Jones, program manager with the nonprofit LeadMO, said tying Proposition A to Amendment 3 is about protecting the people’s power. It’s a message she said resonated with voters as she helped collect signatures from Missourians across the state to put the gerrymandered map on the ballot.

“A handful of powerful people shouldn’t be able to rig the rules to protect themselves,” Jones said. “That is what this fight is about. They want to divide communities, manipulate who gets represented together and make it harder for voters to hold politicians accountable.” 

More than 600 volunteers with abortion-rights groups, labor unions and voter advocacy groups knocked on 14,000 doors across the state Saturday, urging voters to oppose Proposition A and Amendment 3, according to a press release from Abortion Action Missouri.

On Tuesday, Tim Jones, a Republican radio host and former speaker of the Missouri House, said the initiative petition process has become “an abhorrent abomination to our constitution.” He accused out-of-state donors of deceiving Missourians by pouring millions of dollars into progressive campaigns. 

The 2024 campaign to legalize abortion, and the 2026 campaign to keep it legal, have been backed by small donations from thousands of Missourians. But most of the more than $27 million raised by Stop the Ban this year has come from large out-of-state donors and progressive nonprofits that aren’t required to disclose their donors. 

Her Health, Her Future, the campaign supporting the abortion ban, has drawn far fewer donors, with significant financial backing from Missouri-based contributors, including a newly formed nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors. As of Thursday, the campaign had raised more than $7 million.

Amendment 3 would reinstate an abortion ban with exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies and rape or incest within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

It would also allow the state to reinstate dozens of regulations on abortion providers struck down this summer by Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang, who ruled they were unconstitutional under the reproductive rights amendment voters approved in 2024. Those included a 72-hour waiting period, special licensing requirements for abortion providers and hospital admitting privileges.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway criticized the ruling at Tuesday’s rally in Arnold, asking supporters if they would protect women and “stand up to that judge who overruled every single safety protection for women.”

But Zhang did not strike down every regulation. She upheld requirements that medication abortion be administered in person and that only doctors can perform abortions or prescribe abortion medication. She also wrote that several safeguards remained in place even without the regulations she overturned.

Amendment 3 would also place a constitutional ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors. State law prohibits gender-transition surgery for minors and bars minors from beginning cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers. The restrictions on hormones and puberty blockers are set to expire in August 2027, though lawmakers have discussed making the ban permanent. 

Former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who recently stepped down from the FBI, also made an appearance in Arnold as part of what he called an effort to barnstorm Missouri for Amendment 3. 

He recently teamed up with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley to launch a political action committee called Vote Yes on Amendment 3. An Oct. 26 report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission showed the campaign had received one donation — for $1 million — from America Next Inc., a conservative Louisiana-based nonprofit launched by former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

America Next does not disclose its donors. 

Bailey told the Arnold crowd that “voters were deceived by the lie behind reproductive freedom a few years back.” 

The 2024 reproductive rights amendment passed with 51.6% of the vote. Polling shows the potential for another very close race.

Those rallying in opposition to Amendment 3 reject the suggestion that voters were deceived when they approved abortion rights two years ago. 

“Powerful politicians think they know better. They say we didn’t know what we were doing when we voted to legalize abortion,” Nancy O’Brian, a volunteer with Abortion Action Missouri, said at a rally Saturday in St. Louis. “They say that we didn’t mean it when we kicked politicians and lawyers out of private medical decisions between families and doctors. But they don’t know Missouri like we do. We know how Missourians feel about abortion because we already asked them.” 

O’Brian, who had an abortion when she was a young woman after she said she was targeted by an older man who became abusive, said access to that care allowed her to have her current career and family, which includes two children.

Knocking on doors, she said, has shown her that Missourians have nuanced feelings about abortion. 

“But I also know that no matter how we personally feel about abortion, Missourians agree that politicians should never get to decide for us and our families,” she told a cheering crowd. “They certainly shouldn’t get to just overturn any vote of the people just because they don’t like it. Politicians don’t get the final say. We get the final say.”