With Election Day less than a month away, one Missouri ballot initiative is on the forefront of many medical professionals' minds.
Amendment 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that could overturn Missouri's near-total abortion ban, puts the future of reproductive health care in Missouri in question.
Missouri medical professionals sign a letter supporting Amendment 3
Two local doctors signed a letter supporting the passage of Amendment 3 alongside more than 800 Missouri medical professionals.
"Physicians think that these decisions should be between doctors and patients and not decided by the state," said Dr. David Mehr, a family physician and geriatrician with a background in obstetrics.
Dr. Robin Blake, a retired family physician and former University of Missouri medical school professor, said the passage of Amendment 3 would restore reproductive freedoms.
"I strongly support Amendment 3 because it restores that personal freedom to a woman that has been taken away by politicians," Blake said.
Medical professionals who signed the letter endorsed the ballot initiative put forth by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom to allow Missourians to vote on abortion, miscarriage care and birth control.
This letter came less than a week after the Missouri Supreme Court certified that Amendment 3 would appear on Missourians' ballots in November.
"We know that decisions around pregnancy are deeply personal and private, and they should be left up to patients and their families," the letter reads.
These medical professionals are not alone, as the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all strongly oppose government interference in reproductive health care.
Missouri and Roe v. Wade
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Missouri was the first state to enact a trigger law banning abortion except in cases of medical emergency.
Roe v. Wade, a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision, had federally protected women’s right to choose to have an abortion. With that decision overturned, it reminds some doctors about when they practiced medicine prior to Roe v. Wade.
“I'm old enough to remember what life was like before Roe v. Wade, and in those situations, women were suffering complications and dying,” Mehr said.
Abortion rights appear on the ballot in these states
In November, Missouri and nine other states are voting whether to amend their state constitutions to include abortion rights measures.
Now, Missouri and nine other states will vote on ballot measures regarding abortion and reproductive rights in November.
Missouri’s current abortion ban and how it could change
Currently, women in Missouri can only access an abortion when their life is in immediate danger. In practice, doctors are trying to balance caring for their patients and the legal implications of performing abortions.
“Women are allowed to progress to a point where they are in desperate, terrible, dire straits before a physician feels comfortable taking care of them without legal liability, without being accused," Blake said. "This is a terrible situation."
The CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists addressed these concerns at a Senate hearing in June.
“There’s been a lot of false information that laws limiting abortion will prevent these life-saving treatments," Dr. Christina Francis said. "But, honestly, this is absurd.”
She said induced abortion is not health care, but there is a time where intervention is needed to save the life of the mother.
“I’ve sat on the edge of my patient's bed, crying with her as we discuss why we couldn’t wait even one or two more weeks when her baby might survive to deliver her,” Francis said. “In these discussions, we recognize that our intent in intervening is to save the mothers life with the unintended consequence of our fetal patient losing his or her life.”
Medical professionals are still wary, even though Missouri’s current law allows intervention in cases of medical emergency.
“I'm concerned that the ambiguities in these laws could lead to the kind of deaths that have occurred in other states where physicians felt that they might end up in jail for providing appropriate medical care,” Mehr said.
Anyone who knowingly performs an abortion in Missouri that isn’t necessary to save the life of the mother can be charged with a Class B felony and subject to up to 15 years in prison. If they are a medical professional, their medical licenses can be suspended or revoked.
“They are walking a tight rope because they don't want to legally get into legal trouble,” Blake said. “They don't want to put themselves at legal risk, but they have an obligation to serve the patient, to take care of the patient, and they're put into an impossible situation.”
Under Missouri's emergency exemption, 64 abortions were performed between June 2022 and March 2024, according to data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
However, Missouri women can travel to Kansas or Illinois for an abortion or reproductive care, since both of those states currently protect a woman’s right to an abortion.
“Missouri is somewhat fortunate in that we do have states on either side of us where legal access to abortion is present,” Blake said.
In spite of this, doctors like Blake and Mehr still want to see Amendment 3 pass in November because it could protect more than just abortion.
“It's the issue of even people who are getting normal reproductive care and have no interest in receiving an abortion that the current law threatens their health,” Mehr said.
