Free Republic

Abortion is still legal in Missouri. Voters on Tuesday rejected Amendment 3, which would have again banned most abortions in the state, with some exceptions.

Missouri voters rejected a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would have repealed the state’s 2024 right to abortion and restored protections for unborn babies. With 91.1 percent of precincts reporting, “No” led 55.45 percent to 44.55 percent on Amendment 3. The measure would have eliminated the constitutional right to abortion approved by voters two years ago, restricted abortion to cases of medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape or incest, and limited the rape and incest exceptions to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It also would have enshrined a ban on mutilating children with so-called sex change procedures for minors in the...

Missouri’s Amendment 3 also states that the Missouri Constitution will “continue to ensure women’s ability to access medical care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages; allow legislation to regulate abortion providers and facilities to ensure health and safety; require informed and voluntary consent for an abortion, including parental or judicial consent for minors.” Read the full language here: https://www.sos.mo.gov/petitions/2026BallotMeasures Be sure you know the facts before Election Day, November 3rd

(RNS) — Officially, abortion is still a top policy priority for many religious leaders. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls preventing abortion its “preeminent priority,” and prominent conservative evangelicals continue to mobilize their voters around the issue. But as Idaho, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia prepare to vote on abortion-related measures in the midterm elections, polling suggests it is less of a priority for voters than in other recent election cycles. According to an October poll by Pew Research Center, significantly fewer registered voters from every religious group surveyed said abortion was “very important” in deciding who to vote for...

ST. LOUIS — The entire day had been building to this moment. First there was the procession, then the readings and songs and the sponsors who explained why they felt she was ready for what was to come. She prostrated before the altar inside the old church, her chest heaving with emotion as the Litany of the Saints was said. She sat in a folding chair, tears trickling down her cheeks, while each person in the pews came forward to place their hands on her head in a quiet blessing. And as the noon hour arrived and Anna Girresch —...

new proposed amendment to Missouri’s constitution that would prohibit abortion and sex-rejecting procedures for minors with gender dysphoria is polling close ahead of November’s election day. According to polling posted by The New York Times, 44% of likely Missouri voters said they oppose the adoption of abortion safeguards, follow by a close 43% who support it. In contrast, 47% of likely Missouri voters said they support a ban on gender transition procedures for children while 40% oppose it. In 2024, Missouri voters passed Amendment 3, to codify “the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including abortion,” according to Ballotpedia. November’s proposed...

The Eighth Circuit ruled that Missouri must use its 2025 congressional map in November, holding that switching to the 2022 map after the August primary violates the Constitution. The court ordered entry of a permanent injunction, but paused it for one week. The court held that Article I, Section 2 protects voters’ ability to participate in the selection of congressional nominees. Switching maps after the primary would leave some voters choosing among nominees they had no opportunity to select. The court rejected arguments that the Supreme Court’s stay or approaching election deadlines made the appeal moot. It reached the constitutional...

The U.S. Supreme Court again rejected Missouri congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump on Thursday, a loss for Republicans trying to maintain control of the House in the pivotal midterm elections. The decision appears to clear the way for the state to use a map passed in 2022, as the state's highest court ordered. It's part of a pitched legal battle that has created confusion for voters and others shortly before ballots begin going out for the November elections. The Trump administration had urged the court to keep the president's preferred maps, which were aimed at gaining one additional...

A federal judge in St. Louis on Tuesday ordered Missouri to use the gerrymandered congressional map drawn during a 2025 special session, giving a direction to Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and other election officials in conflict with a Missouri Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court today rejected a last-ditch effort by Missouri Republicans to use a newly drawn congressional map, which was designed to maximize their political power, for this year’s midterm elections. In a brief order issued by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court left in place a Missouri Supreme Court ruling from last week that said the map could not be used while a ballot initiative moves forward that could lead to the redrawn map being tossed out by voters. Kavanaugh handles emergency requests that arise from Missouri. The 2025 Republican redistricting plan, part of a wave prompted by Trump, was...

The court said a referendum seeking to put the map up for a vote must be placed on the ballot, meaning the state’s elections this fall will take place under its old congressional lines. ================================================================== The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s redrawn congressional map cannot be used in this year’s midterm elections, dealing a blow to Republicans. The court ruled that a referendum on whether the state can use the map going forward must be included on the November ballot, meaning Missouri’s fall elections will take place under its previous district lines. The new map was designed...

A bipartisan six-member delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on August 25, two days after Kazakhstan elected the first members of its new unicameral Kurultai. Tokayev called the timing symbolic and proposed closer dialogue between Congress and the new legislature. The delegation was led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and included Greg Murphy, Carol Miller, Ronny Jackson, Wesley Bell, and Ed Case. Smith said President Donald Trump had called him at 2 a.m., several hours before the meeting. Trump sent his regards, expressed appreciation for his relationship with...

While progressives celebrated several high-profile victories in Michigan on Tuesday, candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the party’s anti-Israel wing suffered a series of notable defeats elsewhere, underscoring the limits of the movement’s electoral reach. The most closely watched race unfolded in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, where Rep. Wesley Bell decisively defeated former Rep. Cori Bush in a rematch of their 2024 primary. Bush, a former member of the “Squad” and one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of Israel, sought to reclaim the St. Louis-area seat after blaming her previous defeat on pro-Israel outside spending. Instead,...

A newly-uncovered Biden White House memo from the administration's final days revealed plans that could have expanded Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 3 million noncitizens while acknowledging that previous court challenges had blocked many of President Donald Trump's efforts to end the protections. TPS is meant for foreign populations experiencing crises like political unrest or natural disasters, and while Trump has tried to end the "temporary" provisions for Haitians, Nepalese, Salvadorans and Sudanese people, lawsuits from pro-migrant advocates have halted most attempts. "My investigation uncovered that the Lame Duck Biden White House tried to keep millions of illegal...

Turkey still does not meet the legal requirements to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program, the US State Department said in a letter to Congress obtained by The Jerusalem Post. The July 22 letter, sent by the State Department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs on behalf of US President Donald Trump in response to a letter from Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Missouri), reiterated that Washington’s policy toward Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program remains unchanged and is fully consistent with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and Section 1245 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. According to...

Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., is campaigning to return to Congress alongside a self-described Maoist activist and political organizer whose online videos and social media rhetoric has included urging leftists not to disavow Hamas or Hezbollah, has included calls to "unmake" America, applauded burning the American flag and endorsed political violence. The activist, Christopher Winston, has built an online presence across numerous platforms under the pseudonym "BlackRedGuard," posting and appearing in videos about "Maoist organizing in DSA," attacking leftists who say they do not support "Hezbollah/Hamas" and using rhetoric that appeared to condone political violence. In one video reviewed by...

in a letter to MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr., AG Hanaway made it crystal clear: Missouri will not tolerate MLB punishing players for exercising sincerely held religious beliefs. “It has come to my attention that MLB is considering disciplining members of the San Francisco Giants who expressed their dissent from wearing ‘Pride Night’ hats—by either writing Bible verses on those hats or wearing the regular Giants cap. In response to these actions, MLB said, ‘The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,’” Hanaway wrote. “Missouri will...

A pilot and 11 skydivers died after a private plane crashed in Butler, Missouri on Sunday morning. The aircraft crashed just after takeoff at 11.30am, a spokesperson with Bates County Emergency Management told Fox4. The plane took off from Butler Memorial Airport when it turned back for an unknown reason before crashing near Business 49 Highway. A source told the outlet that 11 victims were skydivers, and the other victim was the pilot. All passengers on the aircraft died. First responders and Missouri State Highway patrol are on the scene of the crash, and are scanning the area to see...

he Supreme Court likely sounded the death knell of state and local bans on so-called conversion therapy for minors, at least limited to talking, when eight justices blocked Colorado from punishing counselor Kaley Chiles for not affirming unwanted gender confusion in her young clients while letting her talk them into identifying as the opposite sex. Missouri's Kansas City and Jackson County are nonetheless trying to preserve their self-admitted "functionally identical" ordinances as long as possible, and in the city's case, validate an even further-reaching, all-ages public accommodation ordinance, in response to a challenge by licensed counselors Wyatt Bury and Pamela...

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the state's redrawn congressional maps are constitutional.