Members of the Republican Party of Missouri have recently introduced Amendment 3, which will determine whether abortions will continue to be legal in the state. The amendment has drawn serious backlash, as a clause focused on constitutionally prohibiting gender transition care for minors is seen as being used to lure Missouri voters into repealing abortion rights.
As reported by ProPublica, Missouri Republicans are trying to reverse the abortion-rights amendment voters approved in 2024 with the new “Amendment 3,” which will be voted on in November. This time, voters would decide whether they want to abolish this constitutional right, while allowing exceptions for some rarer cases.
One of the most contentious aspects of the bill is that it also restricts minors from receiving gender-affirming care, something that has already been prohibited in Missouri since 2023. Critics have called the measure “ballot candy,” saying it uses prominent anti-trans sentiment to overturn what voters have already decided.
When contacted by the outlet, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe’s office only emphasized that the measure would protect children from “sex-change procedures,” without acknowledging the controversy surrounding it.
Residents React to Missouri Republicans’ Plans
Missouri residents on Reddit’s r/Missouri were furious to discover that the Republican Party was trying the same amendment again. One of them wrote: “Funny how when it’s an Amendment that had stuff Republicans don’t like, like rejecting their gerrymander or protecting citizen-led initiatives from legislative override, they find the ‘multiple items’ that invalidate the Amendment.”
Someone else added: “This is their strategy. They know a lot of their voters will see the word trans and just vote against it at all costs. (…) They know what they are doing, and they do not care what anyone else thinks.”
Others believed the party that controls Missouri was being hypocritical: “Didn’t Denny Hoskins and the GOP argue that any amendment they don’t like is violating the two-issues rule? Isn’t this clearly violating the two-issues rule? This is hypocritical to the point of evil.”
Overall, many were just disheartened to see the same fight being fought over and over. As one seemingly trans person wrote on the thread: “We just want to live.”
