Amendment 3 will be on ballot in 2026
In January, the pro-life community looks back to the Jan. 22 Roe v. Wade decision — now the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children — and forward toward numerous legal and public policy efforts in Missouri.
Youths from several schools and parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis attended the annual March for Life on Jan. 23 in Washington, D.C. Those groups received a Generation Life mini-grant from the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate to help offset travel costs. Other events were held locally, including a Celebrate Life Day for eighth graders hosted at St. Joseph in Cottleville and Life &Dignity event for teens organized by Mission West, a collaborative youth ministry effort among parishes in St. Charles County and surrounding areas.
Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski was to celebrate the annual Roe v. Wade Memorial Mass Jan. 24 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. Other activities included a Young Adult Pro-Life Holy Hour and prayer vigils at parishes on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
“I’m very inspired by the different groups who always give of themselves to help promote the dignity of all human life — especially for the unborn — here in January,” Respect Life Apostolate director Mary Varni said.
“I’m so inspired by the beautiful witness of life and dignity and am thankful for every student going to the March for Life or witnessing in some way, to every family proclaiming the Gospel of Life in some way and for every parish leader who is organizing prayer and education activities in their communities,” she said.
Proposed amendment
A measure expected on the ballot later this year seeks to amend the constitution to prohibit most abortions in Missouri.
Amendment 3 would limit most abortions except for cases of rape and incest (up to 12 weeks of gestation), emergencies and fetal anomalies. It would also repeal a 2024 voter-approved amendment, which allows for abortions through fetal viability.
If approved by voters, Amendment 3 would reinstate health and safety inspections at abortion facilities, require parental consent for minors receiving medical procedures, require physicians performing abortions to have nearby hospital admitting privileges, ensure access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages and provide medical malpractice protections.
The new ballot question also would amend the constitution to ban gender transition surgeries and prescribing medications for gender transition, including puberty blockers, for children younger than 18.
Several pro-life organizations have formed a coalition called Her Health Her Future to support the proposed ballot initiative. The four Catholic dioceses in Missouri are working on details for a day of prayer for the passage of Amendment 3 sometime in the coming months.
Mary Damazyn, a parishioner at St. Gabriel the Archangel in St. Louis, held a “Pray to End Abortion” sign on Dec. 5, 2024, outside Planned Parenthood.
Meanwhile, a trial began earlier this month in Jackson County to consider whether to overturn numerous abortion regulations in Missouri. The trial stems from a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri, which seeks to repeal abortion regulations they say are in violation of the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2024.
Among the laws being challenged are a requirement that only physicians provide abortions, a ban on prescribing medication abortion via telehealth, facility licensing requirements, admitting privileges and a written transfer agreement at a nearby hospital and a state-approved complication plan for medication abortions.
Pro-life lobbyist Deacon Sam Lee said that even after the 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion remains.
“In Missouri but also through country, there’s been a realization that the Dobbs decision didn’t end it all,” Deacon Lee said. “Even if Jackson County passes (abortion) restrictions, even if Amendment 3 passes, the issue still isn’t going to go away.”
“People don’t like talking about abortion, and the need to explain this in ways that people can appreciate or understand is a challenge,” he said. “I encourage people do what they can for the pro-life movement in whatever capacity. Not all have to be involved in legislative public policy but can be involved” in other ways including pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes and other ways to support pregnant mothers in need, he said.
Other pro-life activities
In his State of the State address to the Missouri General Assembly on Jan. 13, Gov. Mike Kehoe proposed $15.5 million in funding for the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program in the FY2027 budget.
Established in 2007, the Alternatives to Abortion program provides services and counseling to women at or below 185% of the federal poverty level and assists women in carrying their unborn child to term, caring for their child or placing the child for adoption. Funding is allocated by the Missouri General Assembly to the Department of Social Services through general revenue and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.
Kehoe also asked the legislature to support a measure that would allow pregnant women facing abuse to finalize divorce proceedings.
