Amendment 3 Section by Section
Amendment 3 Speaks for Itself
Subdivision 1 Text
NOTICE: The proposed amendment revises Article I of the Constitution by adopting one new Section to be known as Article I, Section 36.
Be it resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the Constitution be amended:
Section A. Article I of the Constitution is revised by adopting one new Section to be known as Article I, Section 36 to read as follows:
Section 36. 1. This Section shall be known as "The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative."
What Subdivision 1 Means
Amendment 3, if ratified, will go into the Bill of Rights where our most important rights are protected.
- Free speech
- Religious freedom
- Right to peacably assemble
- Right to due process
- etc.
Subdivision 2 Text
2. The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right (1) to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.
What Subdivision 2 Means
(1) The “fundamental right” clause places the rights in this amendment on the same level as the most sacred rights, such as “freedom of religion” and “freedom of speech.” Courts must give the highest deference to fundamental rights making it very difficult to enact laws that regulate or place limits on them.
Subdivision 3 Text
3. The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted (2) unless the Government demonstrates that such action is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means (3). Any denial. interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid (3). For purposes of this Section, a governmental interest is compelling only if it is for the limited purpose and has the limited effect of improving or maintaining the health of a person seeking care (4), is consistent with widely accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that person's autonomous decision-making.
What Subdivision 3 Means
(2) The “interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted” clause is very broad and inclusive of about any laws that would place limits or regulations on abortion.
(3) The “compelling governmental interest,” “least restrictive means,” and “presumed invalid” clause is a directive to the courts to use the most stringent standard of review, typically called “strict scrutiny,” when weighing a law or regulation against claims that they hinder the rights protected by this amendment. When this standard of review is applied in a legal challenge to a law, the courts almost always strike down the law.
(4) The, normally, incredibly strong strict scrutiny standard of review is made even more powerful by this definition of “governmental interest.” This language clearly precludes laws intended to protect the rights of the unborn baby, even those that would limit the pain and suffering a baby endures during the abortion procedure. This language also prevents government from enacting laws based on moral hazards to society.These clauses mean that the legal and legislative tools that were used before the over-turning of Roe v. Wade will not be available to limit abortion if this amendment is adopted. What’s more, the next section overrides whatever regulation of abortion this section does not cover.
Subdivision 4 Text
4. Notwithstanding subsection 3 of this Section, the general assembly may enact laws that regulate the provision of abortion after Fetal Viability (5) provided that under no circumstance shall the Government deny, interfere with, delay, or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional (6) is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health (7) of the pregnant person.
What Subdivision 4 Means
(5) This “fetal viability” clause is deceptive and intended to make voters think this is a limited proposal that makes abortion “rights” similar to those that were protected under the Row v. Wade Supreme Court opinion, but the very loose definition of “fetal viability” in the last section of the amendment, and the “mental health clause in this section makes this amendment MUCH worse than the Roe v. Wade opinion.
The Catch-All Mental Health Loophole(6) The “good faith judgment” clause combined with the (7) “mental health” clause means that an abortionist has the final say, and can claim the mother has an unlimited right to kill her baby right up to the moment before birth. Even partial birth abortion will be protected, as long as some “health care professional” finds that the mother might face some mental distress by birthing or rearing a child.
Subdivision 5 Text
5. No person shall be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. Nor shall any person assisting (8) a person in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with that person's consent be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action for doing so.
What Subdivision 5 Means
(8) The “any person assisting” clause effectively means that anyone can perform abortions.
Subdivision 6 Text
6. The Government shall not discriminate against persons (9) providing or obtaining reproductive health care or assisting another person in doing so.
What Subdivision 6 Means
(9) “Persons” in this clause would include companies, like colleges that train abortionists and organizations like Planned Parenthood. That means statutes that prohibit the expenditure of state Medicare funds to those entities would be deemed unconstitutional.
Subdivision 7 Text
7. l f any provision of this Section or the application thereof to anyone or to any circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of those provisions and the application of such provisions to others or other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
What Subdivision 7 Means
This is called a "severability clause." It protects the amendment from legal challenges by "severing" portions of the amendment that might be found unconstitutional from the rest of the amendment so the rest can remain in force.
Subdivision 8 Text
8. For purposes of this Section, the following terms mean:
(l) " Fetal Viability", the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case. there is a significant likelihood of the fetus's sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures. (10)
(2) "Government'',a. the state of Missouri; orb. any municipality, city, town. village, township, district. authority, public subdivision or public corporation having the power to tax or regulate, or any portion of two or more such entities within the state of Missouri.
What Subdivision 8 Means
(10) Even full term babies can require a stay in a neonatal care unit to survive. The definition of “fetal viability” is so loose, and the “treating health care professional” that applies that loose standard could be the abortionist, himself, that it renders the fetal viability clause virtually meaningless.
This last portion makes sure the amendment applies to every governmental jurisdiction in the state. In effect, it makes sure no local law can truly regulate abortion or otherwise infringe on health care freedom.