# Missouri Amendment 3 (2026) A legislatively referred constitutional amendment on Missouri's November 3, 2026, ballot that would repeal the abortion-rights amendment voters passed in 2024 and simultaneously ban gender-affirming medical care for minors. The first attempt in American history to use the ballot to *revoke* an existing constitutional right to abortion. ## The Bundling Strategy The amendment combines two distinct policies: an abortion prohibition (exceptions for medical emergency, fetal anomaly, and rape/incest before 12 weeks) and a ban on gender transition surgeries and puberty-blocking drugs for minors under 18. Critics call the trans care ban "ballot candy" — designed to leverage high public support for restricting youth gender care (67–73% in Missouri polling) to carry an abortion ban that would otherwise face majority opposition. Missouri voters rejected an abortion ban just two years earlier, passing the 2024 amendment 51.6% to 48.4%. Early 2026 polling shows Amendment 3 at 47% support, 40% opposition, 12% undecided — closer than the 2024 margin, suggesting the bundling tactic may be shifting the math. ## Companion Measure A separate legislatively referred amendment would require citizen-initiated constitutional amendments to win majority approval in *each* congressional district, making it structurally impossible for future statewide majorities to enact progressive measures through the initiative process. See [[2026 Ballot Measures Hub]]. ## Significance for the Vault Missouri 2026 is the most important test case for whether the [[Post-Dobbs Ballot Measures]] strategy — using direct democracy to override gerrymandered legislatures — can survive a legislative counter-offensive. If Republicans can repeal a voter-enacted right and simultaneously lock the initiative process, the direct-democracy escape valve closes. ## Related - [[Post-Dobbs Ballot Measures]] — the 2022–2024 wave this seeks to reverse - [[Abortion Politics]], [[Anti-Abortion Movement]] - [[Transphobia]], [[National Center for Transgender Equality]] - [[2026 Ballot Measures Hub]] — full 2026 ballot landscape - [[2026 Midterms Hub]]