On the Ballot November 3, 2026
Get ready for all hell to break loose in Social Media! Amendment 3 addresses two subjects that are high on the list of importance to liberals, liberal Democrats, and even the Socialist. Abortion and Gender Transition. When it comes to either topic, there seems to be no middle ground. You are either for or against. There is no given room for compromise and apparently no room for Common Sense. So here we go. What is Amendment 3 (2026)?
The Facts:
If passed, the 2026 version of Amendment 3 would:
- Repeal the 2024 voter-approved Amendment providing reproductive healthcare rights, including abortion through fetal viability;
- Allow abortions for rape and incest (under twelve-weeks’ gestation), emergencies, and fetal anomalies;
- Allow legislation regulating abortion;
- Ensure parental consent for minors’ abortions;
- Prohibit gender transition procedures for minors?
How would Amendment 3 change abortion policies in Missouri?
This amendment would repeal Amendment 3, which was passed by voters in 2024. It amended the state constitution, providing for the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including abortion.
The amendment would then add a new section that would prohibit abortion, except in cases of medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest. For cases of rape and incest, the abortion could only be performed before 12 weeks. It would prohibit abortions based on a fetal disability diagnosis, except in cases of fetal anomaly. It would require parental or guardian consent for minors seeking an abortion and prohibit fetal organ harvesting. The amendment would also provide for the ability of a woman to access healthcare in cases of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
State Sen. Brad Hudson (R-33), who supports HJR 73, said, “From constituents and individuals that I’ve been talking to about this issue, they want another opportunity to weigh in on this. They don’t feel like that they were given an option in Amendment 3 that accurately reflects who they are and where they are on the life issue.”
Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action, who opposes the measure, said, “The majority of Missourians want to make their own decisions about health care without interference from prying politicians … We will not stand for more political games at the expense of the thousands of patients in Missouri who could finally access care they need without crossing state lines. Missouri voters will once again send a clear message that enough is enough.”
Abortion is currently legal in Missouri up to the point of fetal viability, which is defined in Missouri law as “that stage of fetal development when the life of the unborn child may be continued indefinitely outside the womb by natural or artificial life-supportive systems.”
How would Amendment 3 change state policy related to transgender medical procedures for minors?
The amendment would also prohibit gender transition surgeries for minors under 18, and prohibit the prescribing of cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to minors under 18. This does not include the use of surgeries, drugs, or hormones to treat children born with medically verifiable disorders of sex development, or to treat any infection, injury, disease, or disorder unrelated to the purpose of gender transition.
Currently, gender transition procedures for minors are statutorily prohibited in Missouri.
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
- Repeal the 2024 voter-approved Amendment providing reproductive healthcare rights, including abortion through fetal viability;
- Allow abortions for rape and incest (under twelve-weeks’ gestation), emergencies, and fetal anomalies;
- Allow legislation regulating abortion;
- Ensure parental consent for minors’ abortions;
- Prohibit gender transition procedures for minors?
State governmental entities estimate no costs or savings. Greene County estimates it may experience an unknown increase in tax revenue. Other local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.
A “yes” vote will repeal Article I, Section 36, of the Missouri Constitution approved by the voters in 2024 which provided reproductive healthcare rights, including abortion through fetal viability; continue to ensure women’s ability to access medical care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages; allow legislation to regulate abortion providers and facilities to ensure health and safety; require informed and voluntary consent for an abortion, including parental or judicial consent for minors; allow restriction of abortions to cases of medical emergency, rape and incest under twelve weeks gestation, and fetal anomalies; prohibit public funding of abortions except in limited circumstances; and prohibit gender transition procedures for minors including gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs, with exceptions for specific medical conditions.
A “no” vote will leave Article I, Section 36, of the Missouri Constitution approved by voters in 2024 in place; will not limit abortion to cases of medical emergency, rape and incest under twelve weeks gestation, and fetal anomalies, but leave access to abortion available through fetal viability; will not prohibit gender transition procedures for minors.
If passed, this measure will not increase or decrease taxes.
Section 36(a).1. The state’s duty to protect public health and welfare includes protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession. The state’s interest in regulating the practice of medicine is even greater in areas of medical and scientific uncertainty or in areas that raise grave moral and ethical concerns, including abortion and gender transition procedures.
2. An abortion may be performed or induced upon a woman in cases of medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest. In the case of abortions performed or induced in cases of rape or incest, the abortion may be performed or induced no later than twelve weeks gestational age of the unborn child.
3. The general assembly may enact laws that regulate the provision of abortions, abortion facilities, and abortion providers to ensure the health and safety of the pregnant mother. These laws shall include, but not be limited to, laws requiring physicians providing abortion care to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital; laws requiring facilities where abortions are performed or induced to be licensed and inspected for clean and safe conditions and adequate instruments to treat any emergencies arising from an abortion procedure; laws requiring physicians to perform a sufficient examination of the woman to determine the unborn child’s gestational age and any preexisting medical conditions that may influence the procedure; and laws requiring ultrasounds to be performed only by physicians or licensed medical technicians.
4. No abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman based on a prenatal diagnosis, test, or screening indicating a disability in an unborn child, except in cases of a fetal anomaly.
5. No public funds shall be expended for the purpose of performing, inducing, or otherwise assisting any abortion, except in cases of medical emergency, rape, or incest, as otherwise authorized by law.
6. Except in cases of a medical emergency in which consent cannot be obtained, no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman without her voluntary and informed consent, given freely and without coercion. In the case of a minor under the age of eighteen years who is not emancipated, no person shall knowingly perform or induce an abortion, except in cases of a medical emergency in which consent cannot be obtained, unless the attending physician has obtained:
(1) the written consent of the minor and a parent or legal guardian; and(2) documentation of the consent is retained in the minor’s medical record. Licensed medical physicians shall be required to provide women with medically accurate information. The general assembly may enact laws to provide for the right of a minor to consent to an abortion as granted by a court order.
7. Fetal organ harvesting after an abortion is not permitted under any circumstances.
8. A woman’s ability to access health care in cases of miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and other medical emergencies shall not be infringed by the state.
9. No gender transition surgeries shall be knowingly performed on children under eighteen years of age, and no cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs shall be knowingly prescribed or administered for the purpose of gender transition to children under eighteen years of age. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the use of such surgeries, drugs, or hormones to treat children born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development or to treat any infection, injury, disease, or disorder unrelated to the purpose of a gender transition.
10. Any action challenging the validity of any state law relating to reproductive health care shall be brought in the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri. If a pleading, written motion, or other paper drawing into question the constitutionality of a state statute does not include the state, one of its agencies, or one of its officers or employees in an official capacity, the party bringing the action shall file a notice of constitutional question and serve it on the attorney general and the attorney general shall have the right to intervene in the litigation.
11. The general assembly shall have the authority to enact laws to carry out the provisions of this section.
12. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
(1) “Cross-sex hormones”, testosterone, estrogen, or other androgens given to an individual in amounts that are greater or more potent than would normally occur naturally in a healthy individual of the same age and sex;
(2) “Fetal anomaly”, a structural or functional abnormality in the unborn child’s gestational development that would make life outside the womb impossible;
(3) “Fetal organ harvesting”, collection of fetal tissue, organs, or fluids, including any biological material, for the purpose of selling or collecting for scientific purposes, but shall not include the utilization of fetal tissue, organs, or fluids to determine the cause or causes of any anomaly, illness, death, or genetic condition of the unborn child, the paternity of the unborn child, or for law enforcement purposes;
(4) “Gender transition surgery”, a surgical procedure performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with identifying with and living as a gender different from his or her biological sex;
(5) “Medical emergency”, a condition that, based on reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate termination of her pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant woman or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. A medical emergency shall include, but not be limited to, an ectopic pregnancy at any point following the diagnosis of such and treatment for a miscarriage;
(6) “Puberty-blocking drugs”, gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues or other synthetic drugs used to stop luteinizing hormone secretion and follicle stimulating hormone secretion, synthetic antiandrogen drugs to block the androgen receptor, or any other drug used to delay or suppress pubertal development in children for the purpose of assisting an individual with a gender transition;(7) “Reasonable medical judgment”, a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved.
13. All provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or unconstitutionally enacted, the remaining provisions of this section shall be and remain valid.
Section 36. 1. This Section shall be known as “The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative.”
2. The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.
3. The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the Government demonstrates that such action is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Any denial, interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid. For purposes of this Section, a governmental interest is compelling only if it is for the limited purpose and has the limited effect of improving or maintaining the health of a person seeking care, is consistent with widely accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that person’s autonomous decision-making.
4. Notwithstanding subsection 3 of this Section, the general assembly may enact laws that regulate the provision of abortion after Fetal Viability provided that under no circumstance shall the Government deny, interfere with, delay, or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.
5. No person shall be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. Nor shall any person assisting a person in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with that person’s consent be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action for doing so.
6. The Government shall not discriminate against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care or assisting another person in doing so.
7. If any provision of this Section or the application thereof to anyone or to any circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of those provisions and the application of such provisions to others or other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
8. For purposes of this Section, the following terms mean: “Fetal Viability”. the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures. “Government”, a. the state of Missouri; or b. any municipality, city, town, village, township, district, authority, public subdivision or public corporation having the power to tax or regulate, or any portion of two or more such entities within the state of Missouri
Commentary
The topic of Abortion for me is a difficult one. I am a firm believer in Personal Rights and Freedoms, and therefore, I do not believe that the government, or anyone else has the right to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her body. However, I do not believe that:
- Abortion should be used as a form of birth control. Simply because you were irresponsible and got pregnant does not justify the added expense on the Taxpayers to provide an abortion through available social or welfare services.
- I do not believe that American Tax Dollars should be provided to clinics or fascilities who provide Abortions wimply because the pregnancy is unwanted.
So, what is my solution? Yes, I understand that there are far too many children waiting to be adopted now. Adding more children to the system is not a viable solution. There are not enough facilities to house these children, not enough ‘good’ Foster homes to take care of the children of unwanted pregnancies. There are already too many neglected and even abused children who were the result of an unwanted pregnancy. Forcing a woman to have a baby that she did not want is not a viable solution either.
EDUCATION: You can preach abstinance all you want, it isn’t going to work. You can try and convince the worlld that Sex before a commited relationship or marriage is a bad things, but it’s not going to work. As a species, we are driven by nature to procreate, and that fascination with the opposite sex and the desire to become sexually active comes at an early age. However, we are bashful about human sexuality as a society … thank you Christian moralist (aka: hypocrites). We fail to understand that we need to get it into the minds of our children that the day will come when they become curious, when they will want to discover this great taboo called sex. Take away the fascination, the mystique. Education them in the biology of what they are feeling driven to experience. Teach them to become responsible. We’re not going to stop them from experimenting, in becoming sexually involved with others. What we need to teach them is how to be responsible in their activities, how to take precautions, to prevent unwanted or accidental pregnancies. How to protect themselves not only from Pregnancies, but from sexually transmitted deseases, some of which are incurable.
CONTRACEPTION: I would rather invest the money being given to organizations like Planned Parenthood to perform abortions and use that money to provide ‘free’ contraception. I would even support the providing of contraception to young teenage girls without the knowledge of thier parents, as too many parents are blind to the problem that denying human nature creates. You are not going to stop your daughter from being sexually active. You can education, you can teach responsibility and how to take precautions, and hope that she will make the right choices at the right time. Most teenage pregnancies result from young girls who could not turn to their mothers or parents about their sexual interest and they were left to their own mistakes.
Yes, Amendment 3 falls within the guidelines of my beliefs regarding Abortion, whereas the Taxpayers end up paying part of the bill. But it still goes against my personal beliefs that a woman should have the right to choose regardless, even if it is nothing more than a form of birth control for her. She has to live with the Karma of her decission, not me.
GENDER TRANSITION: I would almost vote YES on this Amendment on this point alone. What a person does with their body after they are the age of majority (18) is their own business. It is a decision that they are considered mature enough to make, and in a more viable position to take on the costs and effects of the decisions they make. No. I do not believe that parents should have the right to perform elective gender altering medical procedures or medication before the child is legally old enough to decide for themselves. In fact, I’m not certain that 18 is mature enough in the mind of many to be making such a life-altering decision.
You are going to have a very hard time convincing me that Gender Altering procedures are anything other than an elective process. Therefore, the use of Taxpayer dollars should be prohibited. Medical Insurance companies should have the right to refuse to cover said elective processes, therefore not increasing my insurance costs to cover Trans-Gender procedures. What you do to your body at your expense is completelty your own decision. However, when I’m paying for it with my tax dollars, it becomes partly my decision as well. And I’m not sold on the idea of Gender-Transition being a correction of a mistake made by Nature. But there are the rare exceptions.
IN CONCLUSION:
So it comes down to this. Allowing Abortion to continue as it is, where an abortion can be obtained for any reason, including being a form of birth control, and doing so at the expense of the taxpayers takes away my support of a woman’s right to do with her body as she wishes. If she wants an abortion simply because its an unwanted pregnancy, then let her pay the costs, not the American taxpayer. Until that is defined, as long as my tax dollars are covering, as long as the cost of my medical insurance is affected by the coverage of medically unnecessary abortions, I’m against that freedom.
So, as it stands right now. I am in favor of this Amendment. You are welcome to try and change my mind, we have until November 2026. Understand, this will repeal an amendment that approved my Missouri voters in 2024. It probably doesn’t stand much of a chance, considering the number of voters in Democrat held portions of the State, like Kansas City, St Louis, Springfield, and Columbia.
