Abortion ban could return to Missouri after voters amended state Constitution to protect procedure

Missouri's near-complete abortion ban could possibly return if a new ballot measure just passed by the state legislature gets approval from voters.

The GOP-controlled Missouri Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday, which would repeal an earlier constitutional amendment passed by voters last year that enshrined abortion protections in the state's constitution. Democrats sought to fillibuster the move Wednesday, but Republicans used procedural rules to get around it, according to The Associated Press.

The proposed amendment, which passed in Missouri's GOP-controlled House last month, would go on the state's ballots in Missouri's 2026 general election. 

However, the amendment could be voted on sooner if Missouri's Republican governor chooses to call a special election on the issue.

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"Senate Republicans are overturning the will of the voters and pushing to bring an Abortion Ban back to Missouri. This new ballot item will ban abortion and take away a right that voters secured just six months ago," the Missouri Senate Democrats X account posted Wednesday.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, several Republican states had trigger laws on the books that immediately went into effect and imposed stricter abortion regulations at the state level. Missouri was one of those states, and was among the first in the nation to enact a post-Roe abortion ban. 

Missouri's trigger law made all abortions in the state illegal, except during circumstances when the life of the mother is at risk.

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But, in 2024, a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion protections into the state's constitution ultimately repealed Missouri's trigger law. The ballot measure, known as Amendment 3, was voted on in November and passed, but by a very narrow margin.  

Missouri Republicans sought to include messaging in the ballot amendment that explicitly says it will repeal Amendment 3, but it did not pass, according to the Missouri Independent. 

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If the latest ballot measure advanced by Republican legislators passes, it would include exceptions for rape and incest.