After this past midterm election, Missouri voters turned down a state abortion ban, voted to place stricter controls on state lawmakers’ changes to citizen-initiated ballot measure, voted against redistricting the state, and awarded Democrats an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Missourians voted against Amendment 3, a measure that attempted to overturn the 2024 citizen-led ballot initiative to reinstate abortion rights after the near-total ban instituted in 2022. 

The failure of Amendment 3 also kept the state’s ban on gender-affirming care from being written into Missouri’s state constitution. Gender-affirming care will continue to be illegal in Missouri under state law because of the 2023 Missouri Senate Bill 49. The Missouri statute currently upholding the ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors will expire in August 2027. However, the ban on gender-affirming surgery is permanent.  

Opponents of Amendment 3 have argued that the inclusion of gender-affirming care in the amendment was a tactic used by Republican legislators to distract voters from the ballot’s aim to ban abortion access. They argued Amendment 3 would not have changed the ability of healthcare providers to provide gender-affirming care for minors.

Proposition A, a Trump-backed congressional redistricting bill, also did not pass. The bill would have divided the largely Democratic Kansas City into two separate congressional districts, giving Republican candidates an advantage in gaining U.S. House seats and likely ousting Kansas City Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. 

Additionally, Missouri voters passed Amendment 6, which limits state lawmakers’ ability to amend or repeal citizen ballot measures. In the past, Missouri lawmakers have altered and repealed some citizen initiatives after they had been voted on and passed. For instance, in 2025, Republican lawmakers repealed the paid sick leave requirement and minimum wage increase that had been passed by a citizen majority vote.

After the passage of Amendment 6, an 80% supermajority among lawmakers is required to change voter-approved statutes. The amendment also gives Missouri courts more authority to rewrite ballot summaries they deem biased — making it harder for a single ballot initiative to include two separate issues, such as abortion and gender-affirming care. Importantly, the bill does not change the simple majority required to pass citizen initiatives.

Sophomore and St. Louis native Karen Bose said she was glad Amendment 3 did not pass. She also said she was relieved that Amendment 6 was approved.

“Thank God we finally passed it. I’m so tired of our lawmakers doing the exact opposite of what we’re telling them to do,” Bose said.

There was also turnover in Missouri’s state-level congressional representatives. Republican Ann Wagner, who has represented much of the Republican-leaning St. Louis suburbs in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District for the last 13 years, lost her reelection bid Tuesday night — something Bose was excited about. Wagner was defeated by Fred Wellman, a Democrat running on a workers’ rights and labor union platform. 

Meanwhile, in the historically blue 1st Congressional District, which comprises the majority of the City of St. Louis, Democrat Wesley Bell took 81.5% of the vote, securing his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Lastly, in the Missouri State Legislature, Democrats won 16 State House seats, ending the Republican supermajority in the state.