Lawmakers approve new constitutional amendment to be voted on in 2026
Missouri voters will again be asked whether abortion should be legal in the state.
The Senate passed House Joint Resolution 73 on May 14, which, if passed by voters, would amend the constitution to prohibit most abortions in Missouri. Abortions would be allowed for medical emergencies and for fetal anomalies any time throughout pregnancy and in cases of rape and incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The proposed constitutional amendment will likely be placed on the November 2026 ballot or possibly earlier if Gov. Mike Kehoe calls for a special election. Amendment 3, which was passed by 51.6% of voters last November, amended the constitution to allow abortions until fetal viability, with a broad exception for the “life and physical or mental health” of the pregnant person.
The new measure 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.
Some of those laws were struck down as unconstitutional by a Jackson County judge earlier this year, an effect of the passage of Amendment 3. Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed an appeal to the decision in April. Limited surgical abortions have since resumed in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia.
The new ballot question would amend the constitution to ban gender transition surgeries and prescribing medications for gender transition, including puberty blockers, for children younger than 18. The state passed those restrictions into law in 2023, but they have already been challenged in court.
“I am grateful that Missouri lawmakers once again are giving voters an opportunity to change Missouri’s constitution and provide protections to pregnant women and their unborn children,” Deacon Sam Lee of Campaign Life Missouri said.
Lawmakers “are giving voters the opportunity to vote and decide whether this new constitutional amendment will pass,” Deacon Lee said. “The key point is that it’s the voters who will decide and not lawmakers who are deciding.”
The Missouri Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s bishops, spoke in favor of the proposed amendment. Executive director Jamie Morris said that Amendment 3 was a close vote and bringing the issue back to the ballot will get the state a lot closer to where he thinks the majority of Missourians stand on abortion.
“With how close that vote was, I don’t believe the average Missouri resident is comfortable with abortion with no regulations,” he said. “This is a way to craft policy more protective of mom and baby and represents the view of most Missourians better than Amendment 3.”
The MCC will continue to work alongside other pro-life organizations to educate voters on the proposed amendment. “Our biggest challenge is going to be answering the question of why are we doing this again?” Morris said. “The voters are ultimately going to get to decide this again. While it’s not everything the Church would like, this is much more in line with most Missourians’ views of abortion policy.”
Other pro-life measures
Missouri lawmakers approved several other pro-life measures before the close of the legislative session May 16. They include:
Alternatives to Abortion funding: A record high of nearly $15.5 million will be designated to the Alternatives to Abortion program, which provides services and support for women in carrying their unborn child to term, caring for their child or placing the child for adoption. (HB 11)
Safe Haven Baby Boxes: This will provide $10,000 in funds for “newborn safety incubators” at fire stations and allows parents to relinquish a child up to 90 days after birth, instead of 45 days. (HB 121)
The legislation also establishes a fund and an accompanying tax credit known as the “Zero-Cost Adoption Fund Act,” which will assist Missouri residents with paying for adoption expenses, giving priority to those adopting children in foster care. It also will help with post-adoption assistance, promote adoption and recruit potential adoptive families and support community-based intervention methods to prevent children from entering foster care.
The bill kept a tax credit allowance for maternity homes at 70% but raised the ceiling from $50,000 to $100,000 per taxpayer per year. A diaper bank tax credit also was extended to 2031.
