MISSOURI – Missouri voters have approved Missouri Amendment 3, overturning the state’s abortion ban, the Associated Press projects.
After months of heated contests regarding Missouri’s Amendment 3 ballot measure, voters have spent the past two weeks hitting the polls to vote on whether to overturn or sustain the state’s current abortion ban. Now, the results are in.
As one of 10 states across the country to include an abortion-related measure on the ballot, since June 2022, Missouri is known as having one of the strictest bans on abortion access in the country.
What happens next?
With the state’s ban overturned, the amendment passed will give “a person to have the fundamental right to make and carry out decisions relating to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives,” as stated on the ballot.
Any governmental interference will be considered invalid in the pursuit of obtaining an abortion up until fetal viability or the point in which a fetus can survive out of the womb except to protect the life of the mother.
Additionally, the ballot states the government may not discriminate in federal programs or funding against medical professionals providing reproductive healthcare or those obtaining abortion-related services.
Supporting campaigns for Amendment 3 had received over $30 million in contributions, while opposing campaigns of the amendment received just under $2 million in contributions, showcasing the monetary support already leveraged for the amendment to pass ahead of election day.
A major message shared throughout the opposition’s campaign to reject Amendment 3 was in regard to linking the initiatives mentions of “reproductive rights” to gender-affirming care for minors and without parental consent.
FOX 2 spoke with legal experts on both sides of the argument, which came down to whether a judge will interpret the term “reproductive rights” as also referring to gender transition treatment for minors.
Kelley Gillespie, a professor of law and health ethics at Saint Louis University, said this tactic was used to sway people from supporting the amendment.
“There a lot of things in healthcare that may have an impact on a reproductive organ, but not done for the purpose of reproductive decisions,” Gillespie said. “There is no credible argument to say it will legalize [gender-affirming care for minors.]”
Mary Catherine Martin, senior counsel attorney for the Thomas More Society, a Roman Catholic public-interest law firm, says the amendment uses broad language and will leave room for a judge to freely define what matters relate to reproductive healthcare.
“What is reproductive healthcare now? That’s what everyone is arguing about right now.” Martin said. “All matters relating to and including but not limited to are both unique to Missouri and express to judges that this category is supposed to be unlimited.”
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