Activists Raise Alarm on Missouri Abortion Change: 'Infinitely More Than Abortion'

Pro-lifers and leaders in Missouri are sounding the alarm over a sweeping change that they say would not only lead to unrestricted abortion during all nine months of pregnancy, but would also go “well beyond abortion” and mainstream transgender surgeries in children.

The amendment is titled “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative” or simply “Amendment 3.”

According to the amendment's description on the ballot, a yes vote “establishes a constitutional right to make reproductive health decisions… and allows for the restriction or prohibition of abortions based on fetal viability, except to protect the life or health of the woman.” .”

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Pro-choice activists participate in the “Rally for Our Freedom” in Orlando, Florida on April 13, 2024. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Proponents of the change, which include Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri, contend that the measure would simply reverse the state's current abortion law, which bans the procedure from the moment of conception except in medical emergencies.

But opponents say the amendment is so vague that it opens the door to a range of abuses, including allowing transgender surgeries on children.

“This is a huge train heading toward Missouri,” Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney for the Thomas More Society, told Fox News Digital.

Holding up a copy of the amendment's language, Martin said the measure is significantly longer than other abortion amendments being considered across the country.

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Pro-life advocates demonstrate outside a session of the Arizona House of Representatives at the state Capitol on April 17, 2024 in Phoenix. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Another opponent of the amendment, Cassidy Anderson, who helps lead a political action committee called Vote No on 3, told Fox News Digital that the amendment does not define “reproductive health care” or set an age limit, but does The case can easily be used as a legal justification for gender reassignment operations on children.

“You would think that an initiative that's being promoted as a women's health initiative would have the word 'woman' in the ballot language somewhere,” she said. “The word woman is never there, it refers to people. It doesn't define age. It doesn't define gender. It doesn’t define anything.”

Anderson's group has committed about $3 million to urge Missourians to reject the amendment. Vote No. 3 raised another $1.7 million at the end of October. However, she said they face an uphill battle as the opposing side receives around $75 million from outside firms such as George Soros and Michael Bloomberg.

“What does Michael Bloomberg have to do with Missouri politics?” But that’s what we’re dealing with,” she said.

President Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Trump attend the annual memorial ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan on September 11, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Because of this outside funding, supporters of the change were able to outnumber their group in ad buys four to one, according to Anderson.

Still, she said polls on the issue show a “really narrow split.”

Several prominent Republicans in the state, including Gov. Mike Parson and Sen. Josh Hawley, have also spoken out against the change.

Hawley told Fox News Digital: “Amendment 3 goes far beyond abortion – it would constitutionally protect transgender surgeries for minors without parental consent.”

“This is more than extreme. And it’s wrong for Missouri,” Hawley said.

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