Bishops, advocates call for prayer, action following defeat of Amendment 3
It’s business as usual for opponents of unregulated abortion-on-demand in Missouri, following the defeat of Amendment 3 on Nov. 3.
Pregnancy resource centers and local faith communities will continue helping pregnant woman in crisis, prayer advocates will keep vigil and continue offering assistance on sidewalks outside abortion facilities, lobbyists will persist in advocating for policies safeguarding unborn babies and their parents, and faith leaders will go on steadfastly upholding the sanctity and dignity of all human life.
“The Catholic Church in Missouri will continue to advocate for policies that uphold the dignity of every person, protect the most vulnerable among us, and provide compassionate support to those in need, as she has always done,” Missouri’s Catholic bishops said in a joint statement on Nov. 4.
Missouri voters defeated the proposed amendment to the state’s constitution by a margin of 44.56 percent to 55.43 percent of 2,118,419 ballots cast.
Passage would have required a simple majority.
Amendment 3 (diojeffcity.org/amendment3) would have restored safeguards and regulations on abortion that were removed or weakened by the narrow passage of an abortion-friendly amendment to the state’s Constitution in 2024.
Amendment 3 also would have constitutionally prohibited sex-change surgeries, cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers for children.
It would have:
- reinstated health and safety standards and allowed for inspections at abortion clinics;
- reestablished the ability to sue physicians or facilities for malpractice, injury or death due to abortion procedures;
- required parental consent for minors seeking abortion;
- banned fetal organ harvesting; and
- ensured licensed facilities and physicians for abortions.
The amendment would have allowed the state to restrict abortions to cases of medical emergency, rape and incest under 12 weeks gestation, and fetal anomalies, and continue to ensure women’s ability to access medical care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages.
“We are profoundly saddened that Missouri voters chose to reject pro-life Amendment 3 and the legal protections for women and children we had hoped to restore,” the bishops stated. “This result, however, does not mark the end of our work.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to accompany mothers and fathers facing hardship in their pregnancies and to offer hope and healing to those who have been wounded by the scourge of abortion,” the bishops stated.
Hope and resolve
A majority of voters in the 38 counties that make up the Jefferson City diocese voted in favor of the amendment, 53.8 to 46.2 percent.
Individual majorities in all but two counties in the diocese voted “yes” on the amendment.
Boone County, the most populous in the diocese, which includes Columbia, voted against the amendment, 69.3 to 30.6 percent.
The bishops had urged Catholics and all Missourians of faith and goodwill to pray, fast, advocate and vote for the passage of Amendment 3.
In their Nov. 4 statement, the bishops expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Catholic faithful, clergy and all people of goodwill who worked tirelessly during this campaign.
“In the days ahead, may God strengthen our resolve to defend the dignity of every human life,” the bishops stated.
The bishops closed with words of reassurance from St. Teresa of Ávila, a 16th-century mystic and Doctor of the Church:
“Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”
Signing the bishops’ statement were: Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis, Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell of Jefferson City, Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and Bishop Edward M. Rice of Springfield-Cape Girardeau.
They did so in their role as board members of the Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC) (mocatholic.org).
The MCC is the public-policy agency of the state’s four Roman Catholic dioceses.
Idaho defies trend
Missouri was one of four states that considered ballot measures related to abortion policy Nov. 3, with only one state rejecting a measure to expand access to the procedure.
Voters in Idaho rejected a ballot measure that would have established abortion as a state right, but voters in Nevada and Virginia approved similar measures.
Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, said in a Nov. 4 statement that “The results of this election bring serious challenges for the fight for life, but also a tremendous victory in Idaho, where voters rejected an extreme abortion measure and preserved protections for preborn children.”
“Voters in Virginia and Nevada approved sweeping pro-abortion amendments, while Missouri voters rejected an effort to restore protections for preborn children,” said Ms. Rose. “These are devastating setbacks for innocent children who deserve the protection of the law.”
The results of the ballot measures came in the same election cycle that saw Democrats win control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives by wide margins.
Bigger developments
Jamie Morris, executive director and general counsel of the MCC, believes the national political landscape going into this year’s midterm elections figured into Amendment 3’s defeat, along with possibly some “abortion fatigue.”
It was a midterm in which the Republican majority lost historically.
“When you consider the enthusiasm from Democrats, who generally don’t tend to vote with us on this issue, and the lack of enthusiasm from Republicans, who generally do tend to vote with us on this issue, we got caught up in developments that were way out of our control,” he said.
Mr. Morris is convinced that the 10-point loss does not reflect the effort put in from the pro-life side.
He observed that the pro-life campaign in general — “not just the MCC and the Catholic Church, but the entire pro-life campaign” — was more organized than the one that saw a narrow loss in the fall of 2024.
“I thought our messaging was good,” he said. “I thought we got out to more churches, we made it to more parishes, had more information available for Catholics in the pews.”
He recognized a more unified and active presence among faith groups throughout the state.
“We also had the governor and First Lady behind this since the beginning,” he noted. “We had a lot going for us.”
Supply and demand
Mr. Morris is convinced that the ballot language on Amendment 3 was much more reflective of where average Missourians stand on abortion than that of the abortion-friendly, regulation-free amendment that passed in 2024.
“You heard a lot of people say lawmakers were trying to undo the will of the people,” he said. “I talked to lawmakers who said they were trying to be responsive to the will of the people.”
There were people on social media who said they wouldn’t vote for the amendment because it included cases in which abortions would be allowed.
“We tried as best we could to address that issue,” said Mr. Morris. “We talked about Pope St. John Paul II and how he addressed the particular problem of conscience, when you have an opportunity to vote for something more protective of life, but not fully.
“I think we and the bishops were clear that the alternative is unlimited, unregulated abortion, verses an unperfect but much more protective law,” he added.
More voting and polling data will become available in the weeks ahead, while the MCC and its Public Policy Committee go about setting legislative priorities and preparing for the state’s upcoming Leiglsative Session.
Mr. Morris joined the bishops in urging people to continue taking the issue to God in prayer.
“I know the Lord is going to bring some good out of this situation, whether we ever grasp it or not,” he said.
He emphasized that promoting a culture of life requires more than victories at the ballot box.
“Even if we had won this, I’d be telling you the same thing,” he said. “We have to keep getting out there and helping women in need — and help them help their preborn children and give them the resources they need.”
He noted that passing Amendment 3 wasn’t going pay the rent for a woman struggling financially or repair a difficult familial situation “or anything else that would lead a woman to be abortion-minded.”
“So, now is the time we roll up our sleeves, and whether that’s through your church, Birthright or one of the many, many pregnancy resource centers, we need to get to work helping people who are abortion-minded,” he said.
Only by addressing abortion demand and abortion availability will babies and their mothers be served.
“It matters a lot less if abortion is legal when people aren’t seeking abortions,” Mr. Morris noted.
Contributing to this report was Kate Scanlon, a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington, D.C.
