Archdiocesan news

Students for Life encourage ‘yes’ vote on Amendment 3

(Jacob Wiegand | jacobwiegand@archstl.org) Bobby Gardner, left, talked with Reagan Barklage about Amendment 3 during a Students for Life of America door-knocking deployment on Oct. 17 at New Town at St. Charles. Barklage and other Amendment 3 supporters with Students for Life of America were visiting homes of St. Charles County voters to talk about the amendment, which would limit abortions in Missouri aside from certain cases.

Students knocked on 12,000 doors in St. Charles County weekend of Oct. 17-18

Members of Students for Life of America visited homes in St. Charles County on Oct. 17 and 18 to talk to voters about Amendment 3.

The amendment, which will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, 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 but also offers a broad exception for the “life and physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

“We’re out here with our students, educating people on Amendment 3 and why it’s so important to reverse the abortion extremism here in our state of Missouri,” said Reagan Barklage, vice president of field programs for Students for Life of America.

Volunteers with Students for Life left “Vote Yes on Missouri’s Amendment 3” door hangers on the homes of voters.

Participants in the door-knocking deployment brought educational materials mostly to pro-life voters and encouraged voter turnout, she said, adding that the deployment was the largest Students for Life of America was doing this election. Students from Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Kansas knocked on more than 12,000 doors, had information tables and flyers at two churches, drove a billboard truck through St. Charles County and covered an overpass.

“Science tells me that abortion ends a human life, and my faith tells me that I have to do something about it. I can’t just sit quietly when I know that thousands of babies are dying every single day in my country,” said Barklage, a parishioner at St. Joseph in Cottleville.

In a statement on Oct. 5, the Missouri bishops urged Catholics to vote yes on Amendment 3.

“Amendment 3 would restore meaningful protections for women and unborn babies that were stripped away in 2024,” the bishops wrote. “It would allow Missouri once again to require basic health and safety standards for clinics, safeguard parental rights, and substantially limit abortion in our state, while also ensuring that women continue to have access to medical care for emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages.”

Amendment 3 resources

Missouri Catholic Conference: mocatholic.org/amendment-3

Archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate: www.archstl.org/yes-on-3

St. Louis Review stories: www.stlouisreview.com/topic/amendment-3-2026-election/

Amendment 3 full text: stlreview.com/4gpaDsj

Ballot language: stlreview.com/4xebJyj

Tom Usle visited homes of voters to voice support for passage of Amendment 3 on Oct. 17 at New Town at St. Charles. Usle is central regional manager with Students for Life of America and a parishioner at Holy Cross in Joliet, Illinois.

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