Missouri GOP Attempts to Overturn Abortion Ballot Results With New Referendum

Republican lawmakers in the Missouri state legislature have approved a referendum proposal for voters to decide on that, if passed, would upend newly enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.

Last November, Missouri was one of seven states to pass a voter-led ballot measure protecting abortion rights and access. The measure, which passed with support from 52 percent of voters, establishes a fundamental right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, including on abortion and “all matters relating to reproductive health care.”

Abortion is protected up to the point of fetal viability under the amendment’s provisions. After that point, residents can still obtain an abortion if their physical or mental health is threatened by a pregnancy.

Almost immediately after the measure passed, Republican lawmakers and their anti-abortion allies began contemplating ways to overturn it.

On Wednesday, the state Senate approved an anti-abortion referendum measure that the state House of Representatives had already passed, clearing the way for it to come to a vote in the near future. Republicans, who hold a majority in both houses of the state legislature, also blocked Democratic debate on the measure by utilizing procedural rules to fast-track it.

Demonstrators outside the Senate chamber protested the vote, chanting “Stop the Ban!” as the vote unfolded. Some demonstrators inside the chamber were ushered out by security.

Republicans are attempting to characterize the new referendum as giving Missouri voters a chance to vote on a “middle ground” measure. However, the proposal would ban almost all abortions in the state, with exceptions for medical emergencies and for rape and incest only before the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The measure will likely appear on the November 2026 ballot. However, it could appear sooner, and potentially on an irregular date, if Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe decides to call a special election for it.

Critics blasted the action by Republicans as an attempt to disrupt the democratic preferences of Missouri voters.

“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,” read a statement from Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, a nonprofit that helps fund progressive ballot measures.

Hall added:

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.

Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, similarly chastised state Republicans for the referendum proposal.

“This past November more than 1.5 million Missourians made their voices heard at the ballot box — voting to enshrine abortion rights into the Missouri constitution,” Schwarz said.

“Missourians are used to fighting back and are prepared to keep showing up,” Schwarz added. “In the past 4 months, thousands of Missourians have shown up over and over again to defend the will of the people. Do not underestimate their determination.”