Missouri ballot measure banning abortions 'unfair' and must be rewritten, judge rules

Kacen Bayless, The Kansas City Star on Sep 19, 2025

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge on Friday found the language of a Republican-led ballot measure that would ban most abortions unfair and ordered the state’s top election official to rewrite it.

The ruling, issued Friday afternoon by Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green, found that the ballot question did not properly inform voters of its true intent. The measure, called Amendment 3, would strike down last November’s historic vote that legalized abortion access.

“The court finds that the summary statement for HJR 73 is insufficient and unfair,” Green wrote in the order, which is likely to be appealed to a higher court.

Green ordered Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to rewrite the language of the ballot measure and the language that will be at polling places within seven days.

The ruling marks a mixed decision for abortion rights proponents and the ACLU of Missouri, which sued over the language of the legislation. The lawsuit argued the question was misleading, pointing to the fact that it did not inform voters that the ballot measure would ban abortions.

But the ACLU did not get everything they asked for. The organization also wanted the ballot measure struck down entirely, arguing the proposed abortion ban, which would also ban transgender health care for minors, violates a requirement that ballot measures only deal with one subject.

On that argument, Green ruled in favor of Missouri statewide officials. He ruled that gender-affirming care was “closely related” to reproductive health care and did not constitute two subjects.

The proposed abortion ban is poised to appear on the November 2026 ballot and would ban most abortions in Missouri if approved.

The ballot measure marks a major retaliatory response from Republican lawmakers, who put the measure on the ballot after nearly 52% of voters enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution last November.

The Republican-led measure would allow abortions in medical emergencies and cases of fetal anomalies, such as birth defects. It would also allow the procedure in exceptionally rare cases of rape or incest within 12 weeks of gestational age.

The language of the legislation, however, is silent on when exactly abortion would be banned, making it unclear whether the amendment is intended to allow the state’s previous abortion ban to take effect or give lawmakers the ability to pass legislation to restrict access.

Republican lawmakers wrote the following ballot language that Green struck down:

“Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:

— Guarantee access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages;

— Ensure women’s safety during abortions;

— Ensure parental consent for minors;

— Allow abortions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape, and incest;

— Require physicians to provide medically accurate information; and

— Protect children from gender transition?”

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