Missouri pastors take opposing sides in fight over abortion amendment

The Rev. Alex Bryant set a goal for 2026: Talk to 200 Missouri pastors about abortion. 

Bryant, an Assemblies of God pastor in Springfield, began traveling across Missouri to sit across from his peers, often over coffee, and tell them why he would be voting yes on Amendment 3, which would repeal the state’s 2024 abortion rights amendment. 

The measure, which voters will decide Nov. 3, would ban most abortions, with exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, and rape or incest within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It would also place a constitutional ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Now, less than a week before the election, he’s met with 250 pastors. 

“I just genuinely believe that the votes are in the pews, and the pastors and Christians were informed, and then if they engaged, and we vote our values, we could win.”

Bryant is part of a growing effort by religious leaders to mobilize support for Amendment 3. But clergy opposed to the measure are also organizing, arguing that their faith calls them to protect individual choices from government interference.

The anti-abortion movement failed to organize effectively in 2024, Bryant said, when Missouri voters approved abortion rights by a narrow margin. The amendment passed with 51.6% of the vote.

“Number one, our politicians dropped the ball … number two, the pro-life organizations were fractured for funds and for money, and for who gets the credit,” Bryant said. “And then number three, the pastors and the Christians didn’t engage.”

This year, supporters of abortion restrictions have taken a different approach.  Republican lawmakers voted to put a new amendment seeking to ban most abortions on the ballot. Anti-abortion groups organized early. And a broad coalition of faith leaders have come together in support of Amendment 3. 

Bryant, who is Black, has focused much of his outreach on Black pastors across the state. He said many lead congregations that lean Democratic and view abortion restrictions primarily as a Republican issue. 

With those peers, Bryant said he’s found success talking emphasizing the portion of Amendment 3 that would place a constitutional ban on gender-affirming 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. 

“I’ve had more than one Black pastor tell me, ‘ah, man, every man in my church is against this,’’’ Bryant said. “They don’t want our boys in women’s sports.” 

Amendment 3 does not address participation in school sports.

Bryant saw untapped power in the pulpits early on. He wasn’t the only one. 

Tom Estes, a pastor in mid-Missouri and a leader with Her Health, Her Future, the main campaign in support of Amendment 3, said the 2024 campaign left little time to organize religious leaders. 

“This time,” he said in September, “we’ve just got buy-in like we’ve never seen.”

This week, the Missouri Baptist Convention at its annual gathering voted in favor of a resolution urging members of its more than 1,700 churches across Missouri to support Amendment 3. 

And earlier this month, all four Missouri Catholic Bishops issued a letter urging Catholics to vote yes.

“Every human life is sacred because every person is created in the image and likeness of God,” the letter read. “The protection of innocent human life is therefore a matter of fundamental moral justice.”

The Catholic Church has been involved in other ballot measures. It previously voiced support for Medicaid expansion and opposition for recreational marijuana legalization. In August, the Catholic bishops weighed in on Amendment 5, a failed effort to phase out the state income tax. 

“It’s not that the Catholic Church hasn’t been involved in ballot issues before, but never to the degree that it is certainly this year,” said Sam Lee, a Catholic deacon in the St. Louis area and a longtime anti-abortion lobbyist in Jefferson City. 

This fall, the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph distributed a guide that included suggestions for priests on how to tie Amendment 3 into the Bible readings for the day. Parishioners are out knocking doors. Large Yes on 3 signs have appeared in front of churches. Lee said many of these efforts crossed over into other denominations as Christians worked together to coordinate canvassing efforts and yard sign distribution.

In Nixa, south of Springfield, the Rev. Michael Lacobee, lead minister at River Stone Fellowship, said he’s never had much interest in pushing his more conservative political beliefs from the pulpit. But abortion, he said, is different.

“To me, this is a moral issue,” he said. “I think it’s an attempt to morally destroy the family.”

Since he began preaching about abortion after the 2024 election, Lacobee said several women have approached him to share their experiences  Now he’s working to support them and support other women who might be considering abortion. 

“This isn’t politics,” he said. “These are real things people are suffering with and trying to figure out and problems they’re trying to solve.”

Other Missouri faith leaders say their experiences counseling congregants have led them to the opposite conclusion: Their religious beliefs compel them to speak out against Amendment 3.

The Rev. Kevin Cameron, pastor at Parkway United Church of Christ, was wary of taking political stances that might ostracize any members of his congregation. Then Amendment 3 was placed on the ballot.

“It was a really important and nuanced conversation with our church council,” he said. “We tried to do what we can to stay out of the blurring of church and state. But, in fact, this time, we felt in order to keep that line separate, we needed to speak up to say faith should be separate, so government shouldn’t be mandating through faith lens what decisions can be made.” 

Now, the lawn of his church features a sign that reads: “No on 3. Stop the abortion ban.” The church hosted a canvassing event for the Stop the Ban campaign this fall.

His congregation is welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. The rhetoric around transgender children was one of his main motivations for getting involved this time around, calling pro-Amendment 3 campaign rhetoric “an assault on people who are already ostracized and who already struggle.”

Cameron is among 90 Missouri clergy members who signed a letter denouncing Amendment 3. 

So was the Rev. Krista Taves of Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel. In 2024, her congregation helped gather signatures for the reproductive rights amendment. Now, she said, members are frustrated that the legislature is trying to undo their efforts.

After abortion was banned in Missouri in 2022, Taves said a few families in her congregation left the state, including a couple trying to conceive using IVF who worried Missouri’s laws could impede their ability to start a family. 

“What I’m hearing from people, even those who are confused about abortion, is what they’re not confused about is government overreach. They’re not confused with that at all,” Taves said. “There’s a deep respect that people should have the ability to make choices for themselves and not have politicians tell them what those choices are.”

Rabbi Andrea Goldstein of Shaare Emeth in St. Louis County said Reform Judaism emphasizes individual choice and personal responsibility in making moral decisions.

She opposes Amendment 3.

“It’s not about whether you, quote unquote, believe in abortion or not,” she said, “but that people in the state should be able to practice and make their own healthcare decisions without interference from the government.”