In November, Missouri became the first state to overturn a near-total abortion ban by a citizen-sponsored ballot measure. On Wednesday, it became the first state to try to reverse that decision through a ballot question, after the Republican-controlled legislature approved a measure that would ask voters to ban abortion again.
The question will appear on the ballot in November 2026, although Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican who opposes abortion rights, could choose to put the issue before voters in a special election before that.
The measure would amend the state Constitution to ban abortion except in medical emergencies, or in cases of rape or incest if the assault was reported to police within 48 hours and the pregnancy is less than 12 weeks along. The measure would also ban gender-affirming surgery or medications for minors.
The legislature approved the measure on the penultimate day of its session after fierce opposition from Democrats and infighting among Republicans, some of whom argued that the new amendment should not include exceptions for rape and incest.
The move bucks the trend on abortion-related ballot measures. Voters have sided with abortion rights in 14 out of 17 times that the question has appeared on state ballots in the three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had for five decades recognized a right to abortion in the Constitution. Opponents of abortion rights have grown wary of putting the question before voters, and in states such as Florida and Arkansas, are instead trying to make it harder for citizens to put questions on the ballot, or pass ballot measures.
But Republicans who control the levers of state government in Missouri have long been fiercely anti-abortion; it was the first state to officially ban abortion after the court overturned Roe. They are hoping it will not take much to reverse the amendment approved in November, which passed with support from just under 52 percent of the vote.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, applauded the measure, saying the abortion rights amendment passed in November was “far too extreme and dangerous.” She argued that anti-abortion questions could win if Republicans campaigned vocally for them.
“When G.O.P. leaders engage, we win on abortion ballot measures,” she said in a statement.
The coalition of abortion rights groups behind the ballot question passed in November called the legislature’s move “a direct assault on voters,” and said the language in the measure is deceptive: The title of the resolution the legislature approved says it relates “to reproductive health care” and does not make reference to a ban or restrictions.
“Abortion rights won in this state six months ago, and mark my words: Missourians will protect reproductive freedom again,” Emily Wales, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, said in a statement. “We’ll knock on doors, speak with voters, and do what the legislature refused. We’ll let Missourians be heard.”
The ballot measure that passed in November amended the state Constitution to establish a right to reproductive freedom, including a right to abortion until viability, which is the point in pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the uterus, generally around 24 weeks. The legislature can restrict abortion after viability, except in cases where a “treating health care professional” determines that the abortion is needed to protect the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
Still, it took months for abortion clinics in Missouri to begin offering services, as providers argued that remaining restrictions on abortion made it impossible. While a judge has struck down many of those restrictions, Republicans have also passed a law making it easier to appeal those decisions.
Kate Zernike is a national reporter at The Times.
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