Missouri's GOP leader says the Legislature must respect the outcome if the abortion amendment passes. • Missouri Independent

With some GOP leaders in Missouri already planning ways to repeal an abortion rights amendment if it passes next month, the Republican is tipped to take over as House speaker and says lawmakers will defer to the will of voters should hold.

Rep. Jon Patterson, a Lee's Summit Republican who is expected to become House speaker in the January legislative re-election bid, says he does not support the proposal to enshrine abortion in the Constitution, which was introduced Nov. 5 as Amendment 3 will appear on the ballot paper.

But if it wins, he said, lawmakers should respect the voters' decision.

“It's going to be the law of the land,” he said Wednesday night at a Lee's Summit Chamber candidate forum. “And we have to move forward as the people decide.”

Regardless of the outcome of Amendment 3, Patterson — who is running for a fourth term against Democrat Kevin Grover — told the crowd Wednesday: “I don’t think a ban on abortion works. I don’t think it’s working for Missouri.”

In an interview with The Independent on Thursday, Patterson clarified that he was talking about a “total ban” on abortion.

“Missouri residents tell us they want compromise,” he said.

Republicans' failed attempt to keep abortion off the ballot in Missouri could be a harbinger of a fight to come

When the constitutional right to abortion was repealed in June 2022, Missouri became the first state to enact a trigger law banning the procedure in all but medical emergencies. There are no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest.

In 2019, Patterson voted for the trigger bill that would later ban abortions.

Amendment 3 would legalize abortion until the fetus is viable and protect other forms of reproductive health care, including access to contraception. The change would allow Missouri lawmakers to regulate abortions based on fetal viability — generally considered the end of the second trimester of pregnancy — with exceptions for “the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, told The Independent last month that if the amendment is passed, It won't be the last time Missourians vote on abortion.

Coleman pointed out that lawmakers placed a repeal amendment on the ballot two years later after Missourians passed a citizen-driven amendment in 2018 that required drawing legislative districts to ensure partisan fairness. That was it too approved by Missouri voters.

“This is not the end,” Coleman said of Amendment 3. “And I think you will see efforts w“In or lose” for Missourians to have another say in this.”

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, was running for re-election asked during a rally in the Kansas City suburbs about Amendment 3.

“I think it’s absolutely right that Missouri voters have a choice on this,” he said. “And they can vote on it as many times as they want.”

During an interview last month Wake up in the middle of MissouriLieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, the GOP candidate for governor, was asked what he might do if Amendment 3 passes.

“I'm sure lawmakers and other groups will have ideas about how we can continue to protect innocent lives,” Kehoe said, later adding: “I'll do everything I can to work with lawmakers and other people in the community.” “We need to find ways to make sure we continue to do that in some form and fashion.”

He later said that as a believer he was convinced that “we will find something.”

So far the polls have favored Amendment 3.

A recent survey from Emerson College found that 58% of respondents supported Amendment 3 and 30% opposed it. The latest SLU/YouGov poll found that 52% supported the amendment and 34% opposed it.

An August 2022 St. Louis University/YouGov poll found that 75% of likely Missouri voters surveyed immediately after the state's ban was passed supported exemptions for abortion in cases of rape and 79% supported exemptions in cases of incest.

Patterson's call to abide by the outcome of the vote on Amendment 3 reflects his opposition to Republican efforts earlier this year to make it harder to amend the Constitution through the initiative process.

The proposal was an attempt to undermine the abortion rights amendment, and when it came to a final vote in the House of Representatives, Patterson was the only Republican to vote no. The bill ultimately failed in the Senate.

This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. to include Patterson's vote in 2019 for a trigger law that took effect in 2022 and bans virtually all abortions in Missouri.