Missouri GOP leader says legislature must respect outcome if abortion amendment passes

With some GOP leaders in Missouri already plotting ways to overturn an abortion-rights amendment if it passes next month, the Republican set to take over as speaker of the state House says lawmakers should abide by the will of the voters.

State Rep. Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican expected to become House speaker when the legislature returns in January, says he doesn’t support the proposal to enshrine abortion in the constitution, which will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot as Amendment 3.

But if it wins, he said, the legislature should respect the voters’ decision.

“It will be the law of the land,” he said Wednesday evening at a Lee’s Summit Chamber candidate forum. “And we have to go forward as the people decide.”

Regardless of the outcome on Amendment 3, Patterson — who is running for a fourth term against Democrat Kevin Grover — told Wednesday’s crowd that “I don’t think an abortion ban works. I don’t think it’s working for Missouri.”

In an interview with The Independent on Thursday, Patterson clarified he was talking about a “total ban” on abortion. 

“Missourians are telling us they want compromise,” he said.

More: Here’s what to know about Missouri’s abortion ballot question before the election

When the constitutional right to an abortion was overturned in June 2022, Missouri became the first state to enact a trigger law banning the procedure in all cases except for medical emergencies. There are no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest.

In 2019, Patterson voted in favor of the trigger law that would later be used to ban abortion.

Amendment 3 would legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability and protect other forms of reproductive health care, including access to birth control. The amendment would allow the Missouri legislature to regulate abortion after fetal viability — generally seen as the end of the second trimester of pregnancy — with exceptions for “the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, told The Independent last month that if the amendment passes, it will not be the last time Missourians vote on abortion.

Coleman noted that after Missourians passed a citizen-led amendment requiring legislative districts be drawn to ensure partisan fairness in 2018, the legislature placed a repeal amendment on the ballot two years later. It was also approved by Missouri voters.

“This is not the end all be all,” Coleman said of Amendment 3. “And I think you will see efforts, win or lose, for Missourians to get another say in this.”

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Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican running for reelection, was asked about Amendment 3 during a rally in the Kansas City suburbs.

“I think it’s absolutely right Missouri voters get to make a choice on this,” he said. “And they can vote on it as many times as they want to.”

During an interview last month on Wake Up Mid-Missouri, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, the GOP candidate for governor, was asked what he could do if Amendment 3 passes.

“There will be ideas from the legislature I’m sure, and other groups, on how to continue to protect innocent life,” Kehoe said, later adding: “I will do everything I can to work with legislators and other folks around the state to find ways to make sure we continue to do that in some form or fashion.”

He later said that as a person of faith, he believes “we’ll figure out something.”

So far, polling has favored Amendment 3.

A recent Emerson College poll found 58% of those surveyed support Amendment 3, with 30% opposed. The most recent SLU/YouGov Poll found that 52% supported the amendment and 34% opposed.

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An August 2022 St. Louis University/YouGov poll found 75% of likely Missouri voters polled immediately following the enactment of the state’s ban were in favor of exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, and 79% supported exceptions in cases of incest.

Patterson’s call to abide by the outcome of the Amendment 3 vote echoes his opposition to GOP efforts earlier this year to make it harder to amend the constitution through the initiative petition process.

The proposal was an effort to undermine the abortion-rights amendment, and when it came up for a final vote in the House, Patterson was the only Republican to vote “no.” The bill ultimately died in the Senate.

This story was first published at missouriindependent.com.