Missouri voters reject Amendment 3, preserve abortion rights

Missouri voters rejected Amendment 3 on November 3, preserving the abortion-rights protections they approved in 2024 and turning down a proposed constitutional ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The result leaves in place the state constitution’s protection of abortion up to fetal viability. Existing statutory restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors also remain in force, according to one report on the outcome. The proposal would have reversed the 2024 amendment and allowed the state to reinstate broad abortion restrictions. It would have permitted abortions in limited circumstances, including medical emergencies and pregnancies resulting from rape or incest through 12 weeks. Reports differed in how they described an additional exception concerning fetal anomalies: one said fetal anomalies, while another specified fatal fetal anomalies. Amendment 3 also would have added a constitutional prohibition on gender-affirming care for minors. State law already restricts puberty blockers and hormones for minors; those statutory restrictions remain after voters rejected the proposed constitutional ban. The measure’s supporters had argued that constitutional language was...