Missouri Republicans propose ballot question to undo abortion rights amendment

Pro-life protestors hold signs outside the Missouri Supreme Court on Sept. 10, 2024, advocating against Amendment 3, which would have dramatically expand abortion access in Missouri. / Credit: Courtesy of Thomas More Society

CNA Staff, Feb 7, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent abortion- and pro-life-related news:

Undoing Missouri’s abortion rights amendment

Missouri Republicans are taking steps to partially reverse the state’s new constitutional right to abortion via a ballot question. 

The ballot resolution would ask voters to allow an abortion only in the case of a medical emergency, fetal abnormality, or rape or incest. 

The measure, if passed, would also constitutionally ban hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries for gender transition for minors. The procedures are currently banned for minors but the restriction expires in August 2027. If passed in the Legislature, the ballot question could go before voters this year, should Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe call a special election. 

Missouri voted to establish a constitutional right to abortion in November 2024 by 51.6%, overturning Missouri’s laws protecting unborn children. The current abortion amendment established a right to abortion up until fetal viability as well as if a health care professional deems an abortion necessary to protect the mother’s life or physical or mental health. 

Ohio Catholic bishops support bill banning state-funded death

The Catholic Conference of Ohio expressed support for a new bill that would prohibit state funding that intentionally terminates human life at any stage in Ohio, including the death penalty, abortion, and assisted suicide. 

Bills to prohibit state-funded death are set to be introduced into the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation would abolish the death penalty in Ohio while also reinforcing current laws banning public funding for abortion. While assisted suicide is already illegal in Ohio, the legislation would expand on protections against the practice. 

Brian Hickey, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said at a press conference that the legislation “reflects a consistent ethic of life, a principle the Catholic Church has long championed in her defense of human dignity from conception to natural death,” according to a Feb. 4 press release. 

Indiana to release previously withheld abortion records 

The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) agreed on Feb. 3 to release public abortion records, settling a lawsuit brought by local pro-life group Voices for Life. 

Thomas More Society attorneys, representing Voices for Life, filed a lawsuit last year against the IDOH for violating Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act when the state health department refused to release abortion records to the public. 

Voices for Life requested the abortion reports to ensure that licensed health care professionals are in compliance with Indiana state laws protecting unborn children. The group had reviewed the documents since 2022, but in 2023, the health department denied their request, citing confidentiality, though the patients are unnamed in the reports. 

Voices for Life has discovered more than 700 instances of apparent abortion law violations by abortion providers. Melanie Garcia Lyon, executive director of Voices for Life, said the release “is a victory for vulnerable women and children.” She noted that the reports “will help ensure abortionists are held accountable for violating health and safety regulations.”