Defying Will of Missouri Voters, Politicians Force a Vote to Ban Abortion

CITIZENS VOW TO PROTECT REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM 

JEFFERSON CITY — Despite Missourians overturning the state’s draconian abortion ban in November, politicians gathered in Jefferson City Wednesday to upend the will of their voters and reinstate the ban with the passage of Joint Resolution 73 (HJR 73). Under the new legislation, the general assembly will have the authority to ban abortion, effectively eliminating the reproductive freedom protections that Missouri voters approved last fall.

HJR 73 is set to appear on the ballot with deceptive language designed to confuse and mislead voters by mischaracterizing prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions, and enacting multiple bans on abortion. 

National ballot measure leaders at the Fairness Project, who backed the successful Missourians for Constitutional Freedom campaign and abortion rights efforts nationwide in 2024, warned that this strategy is a clear attempt to trick voters into abdicating the very constitutional rights to reproductive freedom and bodily integrity they voted for so decisively just months ago. 

“What we’re seeing today is nothing more than a flagrant power grab by out of touch politicians who have taken it upon themselves to supplant the will of the voters with their own unpopular political agenda,” said Kelly Hall, Executive Director of the Fairness Project, the largest funder of abortion rights ballot measures in 2024. 

Missouri law requires joint resolutions to amend the constitution to be ratified by the voters rather than receive a signature from the Governor. HJR 73 will therefore appear on the ballot and is currently awaiting the Governor’s assignment of an amendment number and announcement of an election date. 

The Fairness Project has been calling attention to widespread attacks on the ballot measure process. Since the start of this year, legislators in over 15 states have put forth more than 100 bills attempting to stop voters from having their voices heard at the ballot box or overturn decisions previously decided by voters.

In the wake of yesterday’s vote, Missouri voters are already mobilizing to protect their reproductive rights and the power of their state’s ballot measure process to enact the will of the people.

“Missourians have voted time and again to protect their best interests, despite politicians’ efforts to deny them – from enshrining reproductive rights, to raising the minimum wage, to expanding Medicaid. Regardless of their political party, Missouri voters will continue to make it clear that they reject politicians’ attempts to silence their voices and strip them of power,” Hall concluded.

In addition to Amendment 3, the Fairness Project has helped pass several Missouri ballot measures to stand up for working people when politicians failed to do so. In 2024, the group helped voters successfully pass Proposition A, which raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour and grants workers paid sick time. In 2020, the organization worked with a broad grassroots coalition to pass Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment that expanded Medicaid to 275,000 low-income Missourians. And in 2018, the Fairness Project worked with local partners to pass a ballot measure to raise the state minimum wage.