Over 800 medical professionals in Missouri are endorsing Amendment 3, a ballot initiative upheld that would reverse the state’s near-total abortion ban.
“Politicians are not more qualified than doctors to help our patients make decisions around their reproductive health care,” Dr. Betsy Wickstrom, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Kansas City, said at a press conference on Monday. “I think we can all agree that politicians should not have a say in our exam rooms. Voting yes on Amendment 3 will prevent that.”
Also known as the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” Amendment 3 would change Missouri’s constitution to explicitly protect “reproductive freedom,” defined as “the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care.”
“The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed or otherwise restricted,” the measure reads. It also states that the state government “shall not discriminate against persons providing or obtaining reproductive healthcare.”