The League’s position on reproductive choices was adopted at the 1982 convention in concurrence with LWVNJ and LWVMA: “The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that public policy in a pluralistic society must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.”

LWVMO endorsed the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative Petition submitted by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom (MCF) in November 2023. More than 70 members across the state were trained to gather signatures. 

The League's Fact Sheet on Amendment 3

Click here for updated facts to counter misinformation being spread by opponents

1. If approved by Missouri voters in November, this initiative eliminates one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, one that doesn’t even have exceptions for rape or incest.
2. Penalties under the current abortion ban discourage medical professionals from providing needed treatment after a miscarriage.
3. Obstetricians are leaving states with strict abortion bans, making it more difficult for women in rural areas to find health care.
4. Removing the ban would protect the rights of Missourians to make our own reproductive health decisions, including our options for birth control.
5. Missouri families wanting to use in-vitro fertilization to have children would not have to worry about the government dictating their choices if the ban is removed.
6. The petition’s language would allow limits on abortions after fetal viability.
7. This amendment does NOT remove the ability of the government of the state of Missouri to appropriately regulate services to ensure the safety and quality of care.
8. The overwhelming majority of people who have an abortion do so very early in pregnancy. The few who access abortion care later in pregnancy do so in the context of unique life and medical circumstances.
9. Only one county in Missouri estimated any cost should this amendment be adopted. All the others said there would be no cost to the state when asked by state auditor, Scott Fitzgerald.
10. If the ban is lifted, young women would no longer be discouraged from studying or working in Missouri.
11. The goal is to increase access to reproductive health care for all Missourians.
12. This initiative lets the people decide, not politicians.

Full Text of Proposed Amendment 3

NOTICE: The proposed amendment revises Article I of the Constitution by adopting one new Section to be known as Article 1, Section 36.

Be it resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the Constitution be amended.

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 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:
(1) “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.
(2) “Government”,
a. the state of Missouri; or
b. any municipality, city, town, village, township, district, authority, public subdivision of public corporation having the power to tax or regulate, or any portion of two or more such entities within the state of Missouri.

The League’s position since 1983 has been to “protect the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.”

“We believe current threats to reproductive rights undermine our democracy by allowing the minority to rule,” Joan Hubbard told delegates. “According to the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of Americans want abortion to be legal in most circumstances.”

Hubbard, LWVMO board member and  co-president of the Metro St. Louis League, said, “This is an issue for not only members of the League of Women Voters nationwide, but this resolution is urgent in states working to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom for all women in 2024.”

Here’s the text of the approved reproductive rights resolution.

Whereas the League of Women Voters has been supporting women’s rights since 1920, adopted a position in 1983 “affirming the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices,” and resolved in 2022 that the League supports the rights of women and those who can become pregnant to self-determination related to, and including, but not limited to bodily autonomy, privacy, reproductive health, and lifestyle choice;

Whereas afterDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022 eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, rolling back nearly 50 years of legal precedent, leading to severe restrictions, with 14 states completely banning abortion, except in limited cases, and 27 states significantly restricting it to as little as six weeks into pregnancy; reproductive constitutional rights have been affirmed in six state constitutions and League members in Missouri and nine other states anticipate constitutional changes on their ballots in 2024,

Whereas restrictions on reproductive rights have extended to the ways in which miscarriages and fetal abnormalities are handled, as well as challenges to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and contraception, and the fight for reproductive freedom must be comprehensive and focus on both rights and access; including but not limited to contraception and abortion;

Whereas restrictions on reproductive rights disproportionately impact women (and others who can become pregnant), especially those in communities of color, with low incomes, with disabilities, living in rural areas, who are not citizens, and/or identify as LGBTQIA+; therefore

Be it resolved that the League of Women Voter reaffirms its commitment to fight for reproductive rights and justice, including bodily autonomy, privacy, reproductive health, and access to contraception and abortion, and against disinformation on this issue.

For information on how you can support Amendment 3, go to Missourians for Constitutional Freedom (moconstitutionalfreedom.org) or send an email to reprorights [at] lwvstl.org.