JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri voters will decide whether to overturn the state’s abortion ban at the ballot box this Nov. 5, the Missouri Secretary of State’s office Tuesday.
The elections office said organizers submitted more than enough signatures from six of the state’s eight congressional districts to place a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to an abortion on the general election ballot.
The announcement by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican, sets up a high-stakes fight this fall between abortion rights activists and abortion opponents over the future of the procedure in the state.
In addition to the abortion measure, which has already generated national attention, Missourians will also decide whether to legalize sports wagering, as well as a $15 minimum wage and guaranteed paid sick time this fall, the secretary of state’s office confirmed.
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The abortion question will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot as Amendment 3.
Currently, abortions in Missouri are only allowed in medical emergencies — the result of a state “trigger law†that took effect in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Amendment 3, if passed by a majority of voters, would allow abortions until after the point of fetal viability, or about 24 weeks of pregnancy. Abortions after fetal viability would be allowed if the life or health of the mother is at risk.
Democrats hope the abortion question will boost the party at the ballot box in a state where Republicans control the levers of government.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat running for governor, has vowed to fight to restore abortion rights in the state. In a statement Tuesday, she pledged to be a governor “who will keep the government out of†the personal lives of Missourians and “ensure this ballot initiative gets implemented to its fullest extent.â€
The campaign of Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, the Republican nominee for governor, earlier this year recorded a video urging Missourians not to sign the abortion initiative petition and reiterated his opposition again Tuesday, saying he “opposes the radical Left’s attempts to rewrite Missouri’s long history of protecting life.â€
The abortion question made the ballot after months of legal wrangling last year and an abbreviated signature-gathering campaign this winter and spring.
Activists launched a signature-gathering effort in January to place the question on the ballot, following multiple court fights over the wording voters would see on the ballot.
The ballot wording, as approved by a Missouri appeals court, asks if voters want to amend the constitution to:
- Establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid.
- Remove Missouri’s ban on abortion.
- Allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient.
- Require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care.
- Allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman.
Stephanie Bell, spokeswoman for Missouri Stands With Women, which opposes the ballot question, said in a statement the proposal would allow abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
She also said it takes away the right to sue for malpractice and obtain compensation for “every person who loses a child or loved one because of negligence during pregnancy, labor or delivery.
“Missourians are smart and they don’t like their freedom and safety being stolen from them, and once they learn the real truth about this amendment will vote it down,†Bell said in a statement.
Tori Schafer, director of policy and campaigns for the ACLU of Missouri, said the statement on malpractice lawsuits is “fully false†and that “our amendment is about ending the state’s abortion ban; it doesn’t impact previous malpractice laws that were in place.â€
She added the measure “guarantees abortion up until fetal viability, with exceptions for the health and safety of the patient.â€
Sports wagering
The proposed sports betting question will show up on the ballot as Amendment 2.
The state’s six professional sports teams — the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals, ºüÀêÊÓƵ Blues, ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC, Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Current — are all backing the legal sports betting question, along with sports-betting giants FanDuel and DraftKings.
The ballot measure would set the sports betting tax rate at 10% and allow Missouri’s professional sports franchises and the state’s 13 casinos to operate retail and online sports betting.
Part of the wagering tax would go to “institutions of elementary, secondary and higher education†and a $5 million “compulsive gambling prevention fund.â€
“Missouri is now just one step away from joining most other states in legalizing sports betting and being able to provide millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms,†said Bill DeWitt III, president of the Cardinals, in a statement.
Minimum wage
A proposition that would raise Missouri’s minimum wage from $12 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026 also submitted enough signatures to make the Nov. 5 ballot, officials said.
The measure would also guarantee paid sick time to workers. Employers would need to provide one hour of sick time for every 30 hours an employee works.
would require employers to honor use of up to 40 hours of accumulated paid sick time per year if a company has fewer than 15 employees, or 56 hours per year if there are 15 or more employees.
The earned sick time off requirement wouldn’t apply to government workers, employees of retail or service companies with less than $500,000 in annual business, offenders within the Missouri Department of Corrections, babysitters, golf caddies and others, according to the proposal.
Employers would be free to offer earned paid sick leave plans “more generous†that the minimum outlined in the proposed law.
The question will appear as Proposition A on the ballot.