Missouri puzzle: Voters backed the abortion-rights amendment — and candidates who opposed it
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri voters delivered a split decision Tuesday, enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution while backing Donald Trump for president and sending Republicans who oppose abortion rights to the capital city.
The abortion-rights Amendment 3, approved statewide 52%-to-48%, won by large margins in the state's Democratic strongholds of St. Louis, St. Louis County, Jackson and Boone counties.
But voters in more conservative counties that are part of metropolitan areas also helped Amendment 3 win, despite voters in those counties also backing Trump and the GOP.
The split could be a reflection of how toxic the Democratic brand is in Missouri. In addition to the abortion question, an even larger majority of Missouri voters also voted for a higher minimum wage, a policy Democrats typically support and most Republicans oppose.
Missourians, through voter initiatives, have also legalized marijuana, expanded Medicaid, and repealed right-to-work in recent years — all policies Republicans tend to oppose.
"About every election, one of these comes up," said Terry Smith, political science professor at Columbia College. "It's just the difference between progressive policy and the people who run on progressive policy."
"Democrats just have this brand issue," he said.
Even with many Republican voters backing Amendment 3, Republican lawmakers are likely to push legislation next year to undo at least some of the constitutional amendment. Any changes to the constitution would need another vote of the people.
Amendment 3 was in part an attempt to overturn the state's strict abortion ban, which doesn't include rape or incest exceptions. Republicans approved the law in 2019 and the strict ban took effect in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Sen.-elect Adam Schnelting, R-St. Charles, said Thursday he plans to introduce legislation addressing Amendment 3.
"It boils down to the fact that Amendment 3 was extreme and there need to be some fixes to it," Schnelting said.
Schnelting's planned action comes despite most voters in his home county backing the abortion-rights measure.
St. Charles County supported Amendment 3 by a 53%-to-47% margin even though the county also voted for Trump 58% to 41%.
Voters there backed other Republicans up and down the ticket, with Democrats failing to flip any state legislative seats in the GOP stronghold, despite a concerted effort by Democrats to flip two House districts .
In the western part of the state, Republican-leaning counties in the Kansas City area also broke for Republicans and Amendment 3.
Amendment 3 won over 60% of the vote in both Clay and Platte counties, while Trump won 52% of the vote in Clay County and 51% of the vote in Platte County.
In Buchanan County, where St. Joseph in located, Trump won 63% of the vote while the abortion measure there passed narrowly with just over 50% of the vote.
Wins in the metropolitan counties — including Boone, in mid-Missouri — helped lift Amendment 3. But so did narrow losses elsewhere.
In Jefferson County, south of St. Louis, Amendment 3 won 47% of the vote, while 53% of voters voted against it.
At the same time, Trump won Jefferson County by a 37-point margin, with Vice President Kamala Harris winning 31% of the vote and Trump winning 68%.
In Greene County, where Springfield is located, Amendment 3 also lost by a smaller margin than statewide Democratic candidates: 49% of voters there backed Amendment 3, with 51% opposed. Trump won 60% of the vote in Greene County.
For many voters, Amendment 3 was about how much say the government should have over individuals — a concern that crosses partisan lines.
One Republican voter, a 69-year-old Tower Grove South resident who only gave his first name, Dean, said Tuesday he voted for both Trump and Amendment 3.
"I'm not necessarily an abortion supporter, but I have to support people's rights to control their bodies," he said.
A voter in south St. Louis who described herself as an abortion opponent told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday she was voting for Amendment 3.
"I don't think the government should have a say about our bodies," Detrecia Jennings said.
Sen. Cindy O'Laughlin, R-Shelbina, told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday that she is unsure how lawmakers will respond to the passage of Amendment 3.
But, she and others say it's a subject that will be virtually unavoidable when the Legislature returns in January.
O'Laughlin said a clearer image could emerge as soon as a meeting of the Senate Republicans next week.
"Our caucus is strongly pro-life," O'Laughlin said. "I think that will be a major point of discussion. We'll just kind of decide from there."
It's not clear if action in the Senate would be followed in the House, where House Speaker-elect Jon Patterson, R-Lee's Summit, has signaled he will not press for changes.
"We should respect the will of the people and we will," he told an audience at a candidate forum in October.
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