Missouri Republicans Usurp Will of Voters on Abortion Referendum
The state's conservative lawmakers shut down a Democrat-led filibuster Wednesday by leveraging a rarely utilized procedural maneuver. Senate Republicans used the rule—in which 10 members sign a motion to force an immediate vote, also known as 'calling the previous question' or simply 'P.Q.'—to overturn the state's abortion rights amendment.
Missourians voted directly to enshrine abortion access in their state constitution in November, undoing the state ban by safeguarding a woman's choice up to the point of viability.
But what 53.2 percent of the state wanted was apparently not on the minds of Missouri Senate Republicans Wednesday evening. Senator Adam Schnelting from St. Charles pushed for the P.Q. after 5 p.m., advancing the abortion amendment by 5:30 p.m. Doing so killed the Democrats' filibuster and forced a vote on the new measure, which passed and must now be approved by voters in a statewide referendum.
This means that Missourians must vote again on abortion rights, either in 2026 or earlier if the governor calls a special election. The new proposed ban would repeal the newly instated constitutional right to abortion and allow for exceptions in case of rape, incest, or medical emergencies.
Before 6 p.m., the caucus had approved another bill, repealing a sick leave law that state residents had similarly voted for and that only went into effect May 1, reported the Missouri Independent.
Democrats torched the conservative caucus for forcing the action, declaring that there would be no more goodwill or cooperation between the two parties for the rest of the year.
'Nothing will happen, nothing,' said Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, according to The Independent. 'The banner year that everybody had in this place? That is over with.'
Protests erupted from the Senate gallery as Republicans motioned to vote on the abortion ban. Lawmakers had the gallery cleared of both protesters and press and then wrapped their work a couple of hours later.
Republicans' use of the P.Q. was the first time that the rule had been used in the state Senate since 2020. P.Q.s are often utilized in the House, according to The Independent, but have traditionally been looked down upon in the state Senate, where lawmakers expect to be able to engage in extended discourse on bills. Senator Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia, told The Independent that Republicans' reliance on a P.Q. to advance a vote was a 'failure of the Senate.'
'Today, Senate Republicans said they don't give a damn what voters think by moving to repeal both,' Democratic House Minority Leader Ashley Aune said, in a statement. 'Missourians will not accept their fundamental rights being stripped away and their decisions ignored. The majority party has ignited a political firestorm that will scorch them.'
But it's not the only anti-abortion effort currently making its way through the Missouri legislature. Missouri House Bill 807, called the 'Save MO Babies Act,' is intended to target people 'at risk for seeking abortion services' and to 'reduce the number of preventable abortions.' If passed, a registry of such people would start on July 1, 2026, and would be managed by the Maternal and Child Services division of the state's Department of Social Services, according to the bill text. The bill does not specify the scope and scale of such a registry or exactly how 'at risk' individuals would be identified.
Lack of access to abortion care has actually made pregnancies drastically less safe. In Texas, where abortion hasn't been permitted despite the legislature's medical emergency clause, sepsis rates have skyrocketed by as much as 50 percent for women who lost their pregnancies during the second trimester, according to an investigative analysis by ProPublica.
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