Missourians legalized abortion in 2024. They could overturn it in November

Jack Harvel, The Kansas City Star on May 23, 2026

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Voters will decide in November whether to overturn the abortion rights that were enshrined in the Missouri Constitution just two years ago.

On Friday, Gov. Mike Kehoe announced that he is moving four ballot measures to the August primary rather than the General Election in November.

The statement didn’t note that Amendment 3, the proposed abortion ban, would move to August, which indicates that it will appear on General Election ballots in November.

“With several significant issues set to appear before Missouri voters this year, it is important that we both prepare for the outcome of each proposal and allow each issue to receive the careful public consideration it deserves,” Kehoe said in a statement.

The constitutional amendment would also permanently ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Missouri currently bans gender-affirming care, but that law is set to expire in 2027.

The ballot language for the ballot measure says a yes vote would:

—Repeal the constitutional right to reproductive freedom, which voters ratified in 2024.

—Prohibit abortions except in case of “medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest,” and permits abortions in cases of rape or incest only through 12 weeks gestation.

—Prohibit gender transition surgeries for minors, as well as the prescription or administration of cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to minors, with an exception for treatments “unrelated to the purpose of a gender transition;” and make other changes.

A poll conducted by St. Louis University and Yougov in February found that a plurality of voters were favorable to overturning the state’s abortion protections.

Missourians’ opinions on abortion haven’t meaningfully changed since 2024, but Steve Rogers, the political science professor who directed the poll, said the addition of the gender-affirming care ban makes it more popular for voters.

Missouri was the first state to overturn an abortion ban after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Last year Republican lawmakers approved Amendment 3 for the ballot to restore an abortion ban.

NO on 3, Stop the Ban, a campaign opposed to the ballot measure, said that politicians are ignoring the message voters sent when it overturned the state ban.

“But we will have the final say this November 3rd, not politicians, and we will say NO to bans on abortion, NO to politicians in charge of our medical decisions, NO to overturning our voice and our votes, and NO on Amendment 3,” the organization said in a press release on Friday.

Anti-abortion activists celebrated the move. Her Health Her Future, which is campaigning for Amendment 3, thanked Kehoe for placing the measure on the November ballot.

“Putting Amendment 3 before Missouri voters this November was a data-driven decision that gives Missourians the opportunity to stand for women, children, and our state’s core values at the ballot box on November 3rd,” Her Health Her Future said on social media.

The placement on the November ballot is strategic, and signals that Kehoe believes a larger and less informed pool of voters is more likely to approve the amendment.

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