Marjorie Dannenfelser - President, Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America | Official website

Missouri’s all-trimester abortion amendment makes ballot

August 13, 2024

Jefferson City, Mo. – Missourians will vote on a proposed abortion amendment this fall, as announced by the Secretary of State’s Office today. The amendment seeks to protect second- and third-trimester abortions, eliminate parental rights, ensure taxpayer-funded abortions, and remove women's health protections.

Sue Liebel, Midwestern Regional Director for SBA Pro-Life America, expressed concerns regarding the implications of the measure:

“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. Missouri would become as radical as California in allowing horrific late-term abortions and forcing the taxpayer to fund them."

Liebel further emphasized potential risks: “Missouri’s all-trimester abortion amendment gives the abortion industry a free pass from operating under any health and safety requirements from the state. With Missouri Planned Parenthood business’ record of breaking the law, women and girls will be at risk if the state’s abortion industry goes unregulated. In the past few years, Missouri Planned Parenthood businesses were caught using moldy abortion equipment, ignoring informed consent laws, disregarding the law for 15 years to report when a woman has a complication, and allegedly being willing to traffick a 13-year-old out of state.”

In 2022, Michigan passed Prop 3—an abortion amendment similar to Missouri's current proposal—which led Governor Gretchen Whitmer to sign legislation ending the state's partial birth abortion ban. Following legislative challenges regarding informed consent and taxpayer-funded abortions that could not be resolved through legislation alone, litigation was pursued by ACLU based on Michigan's new amendment.

The movement for such amendments is not isolated; seven red states are targeted with similar proposals in 2024. Besides Missouri, activists are pushing for extreme amendments in Arizona, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Arkansas.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is an organization comprising over one million pro-life Americans nationwide. It focuses on ending abortion by electing national leaders committed to pro-life policies and advocating for laws aimed at saving lives while promoting pro-life women leaders.