Culture and Social Issues

Missouri Amendment To Enshrine Abortion In State Constitution Will Appear On November Ballot

Abortion Protests in front of US Supreme Court, before arrival of 50th MARCH FOR LIFE, along 1st Street between Maryland Avenue and East Capitol Street, NE, Washington DC on Friday afternoon, 20 January 2023 by Elvert Barnes Protest Photography

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft confirmed on Tuesday that an abortion initiative has received enough signatures to appear on the general election ballot in November.

The proposed abortion amendment was one of four ballot initiatives that Ashcroft’s office issued certificates for, according to a press release. The initiative would allow for abortions in Missouri, stating that the Government “shall not discriminate” against those receiving or providing “reproductive health care.”

“The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive healthcare, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions,” the proposed amendment states.

Several other states such as Arizona, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas and South Dakota are all facing proposed abortion ballot initiatives, according to a press release from Susan B. Anthony (SBA), Pro-Life America. The Missouri amendment would allow second and third-trimester abortions.

“Personally, I think it’s terrible,” Ashcroft told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This is a dangerous constitutional amendment for women. Look, I want to protect all life. So I mean, obviously I’m not in favor of expanding abortion.”

The proposed amendment states that no individual is to be punished based on “their actual, potential, perceived or alleged pregnancy outcomes.”

“The abortion lobby’s ballot measure would end thousands of lives. Unborn children who have heartbeats, feel pain, suck their thumbs, smile and even survive outside of the womb will no longer be protected in Missouri if this extreme measure passes,” Midwestern Regional Director for SBA Pro-Life America, Sue Liebel, stated in the press release. “Missouri would become as radical as California in allowing horrific late-term abortions and forcing the taxpayer to fund them.”

In 2023, a former employee for Republicans in Congress submitted six petitions to create an amendment that would change the Missouri abortion laws. The proposed amendment included exceptions for “rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and the mother’s health,” and all of the other submitted petitions were similar.

“I want to concentrate not on expanding abortion, but in making sure that women don’t feel the need for an abortion,” Ashcroft told the DCNF. 

Featured image credit:  by Elvert Barnes Protest Photography