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2024 Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3, also known as the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, was a constitutional amendment that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2024. The initiative amended the Constitution of Missouri to legalize abortion in Missouri until fetal viability.[1] On December 23, 2024, the measure amended the Missouri Constitution to provide the right for reproductive freedom, defined as "the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions."[2] The amendment narrowly passed.[3]
Per NBC News, the amendment received majority support in Boone, Buchanan, Clay, Jackson, Platte, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties, as well as the independent city of St. Louis.[4] These were nearly the same exact counties that had voted for 2020 Missouri Amendment 2 to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, except Buchanan County voted for legal abortion but against Medicaid expansion, while Greene County voted against legal abortion but for Medicaid expansion.
Per the map, the amendment received majority support in Boone County, home to Columbia and the University of Missouri, as well as the Kansas City and Greater St. Louis metropolitan areas along the Missouri River. It was most strongly opposed in the Ozarks in southern Missouri.
Missouri was the first state to enforce its ban after Dobbs was decided. Abortion access was restored in Missouri in February 2025.[5] Specifically, clinics started providing abortions again on February 15, 2025.[6]
- ^ "Full Text of Amendment 3". October 4, 2024.
- ^ "Missouri Amendment 3, Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative (2024)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
- ^ Zernike, Kate (November 6, 2024). "Missouri Voters Pass Measure to Protect Abortion Rights and End Ban". The New York Times.
- ^ "Missouri Ballot Measures: Election 2024 Live Results". www.nbcnews.com. November 8, 2024.
- ^ Friedheim, Natanya (February 14, 2025). "Missouri clinics will 'immediately' offer abortion after judge's ruling". Columbia Missourian.
- ^ Bianco, Ali (February 15, 2025). "Abortion access to restart in Missouri, clinics say, following state court ruling". Politico. Retrieved February 15, 2025.