Vote Could Overturn Abortion Ban in a Deep-Red State

Constitutional amendments to protect abortion rights will be on the ballot in 10 states on Tuesday, and the vote in Missouri could overturn one of the country's strictest abortion bans. The ballot measure would give Missourians the right to make decisions on "matters relating to reproductive health care" without interference until the point of fetal viability, which is around 22 to 24 weeks into pregnancy, CNN reports. There is a near-total ban on abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest under the current state law, introduced immediately after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

• Organizers "cautiously optimistic." Missourians for Constitutional Freedom organizers are "cautiously optimistic" about the chance of Amendment 3 passing, the Washington Post reports. Supporters of the amendment have raised much more money than opponents. An August poll found that support for the amendment had gone up 8% since February, with 52% in favor, 34% against, and 14% undecided. A poll released earlier this month found that around 56% of Missouri voters think the current law is too strict, 34% think it is about right, and 10% think it isn't strict enough.

• Leaders fought to keep amendment off ballot. Missouri leaders fought to keep the amendment off the ballot but the state's top court ordered Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican, to restore it last month. Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, tells CNN that the pushback may have helped the amendment. "The one thing about having politicians who try to subvert direct democracy is that people were fired up," she says. "It hasn't felt like a challenge to us to get people to mobilize."
• "Heartbreaking." Obstetrician Laura Parisi, one of a group of doctors who went door-to-door in support of the amendment last weekend, tells the Post that some of her patients have been turned away from pharmacies that didn't want to provide a drug commonly prescribed after miscarriages out of concerns it could be used for illegal abortions. "It's heartbreaking," she says. "For a patient to have the worst day of their life, just having had a miscarriage, and then to be made to feel like a criminal, it's devastating."

• Victory could cause "soul-searching" for anti-abortion rights movement. Voters have supported abortion rights in all seven ballot measures in the US since Roe v. Wade was overturned, including in conservative Kansas. Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, says losing in Missouri as well could cause abortion opponents to reconsider their approach. "If you have a truly red state like Missouri vote for a pretty expansive abortion amendment, that's going to cause a lot of soul-searching, and it should," he tells the Post.
• Misinformation. In Missouri and other states, opponents of the ballot measures are falsely claiming that the measures will legalize gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Opponents say the language in the measure is too broad, but "it's really outlandish to suggest that this amendment relates to things like gender reassignment surgery for minors," Matt Harris, an associate professor of political science at Park University in Missouri, tells the AP.

(More Election 2024 stories.)