The Missouri Catholic Conference (mocatholic.org), the public policy agency of the state’s four Roman Catholic dioceses, issued the following statement Aug. 13:
Amendment 3, which will appear on Missouri’s November 2024 ballot, is an extreme constitutional amendment that legalizes abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no protections for the preborn child, even when the child is capable of feeling pain.
The amendment would effectively repeal long-standing health and safety standards for women. These include basic health and safety requirements for clinics where abortions are performed, requiring that abortions be performed only by a physician, informed-consent requirements, laws prohibiting public funding of abortion, and parental consent requirements before a minor’s abortion.
The Missouri Catholic Conference will be working to inform the public about this deceptively worded amendment.
We urge all Missourians of good will to stand for the health and safety of women and their preborn children and oppose Amendment 3.