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Jefferson City, MO — Today, the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom campaign took a major step towards putting abortion on the ballot this November.

The campaign, supported by the Fairness Project, submitted over 380,000 signatures to qualify their constitutional amendment, which would overturn the active ban on abortion in Missouri that is among the strictest in the country. The amendment would establish the right for Missourians to make their own decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care.

Under state law, the campaign was required to submit at least 172,000 valid signatures from at least six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts by the May 5 deadline. The signatures must now be verified by the secretary of state and county officials, either by varying the full number of required signatures or a random sampling.

“Missourians today are living under an extremely cruel abortion ban, enacted by politicians who are profoundly out of touch with their voters. Missourians deserve better — they should be able to make their own health care decisions without government interference. This milestone for the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom campaign means that voters are one step closer to being able to use the ballot measure process to secure their rights this November, and we are excited to be standing with them in that fight,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project. 

Voters in Missouri have a history of using the ballot measure process to enact change. In 2020, the Fairness Project worked with a broad coalition of grassroots groups, patient advocates, and health care providers to pass Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment that expanded Medicaid to over 275,000 low-income Missourians. In 2018, the Fairness Project worked with local partners to pass a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage from $7.85 an hour in 2018 to $12 an hour in 2023 for 677,000 Missourians.

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