Elma Ademovic | Staff Illustrator

On June 24, 2022, Missouri became the first state to return to having a near-total abortion ban, which was triggered by the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade. The law bans abortion, with highly limited exceptions in cases of medical emergencies, and with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. It is widely considered one of the most restrictive in the United States.

For the last two years, any physician practicing in Missouri who knowingly performs or induces an abortion can be found guilty of a class B felony and subject to suspension or revocation of their medical license, but following next week’s election, this could all change. 

A proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot known as Amendment 3 — or the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative” — seeks to legalize abortion up to fetal viability, around 24 weeks into a pregnancy. Amendment 3 also protects other reproductive rights, including birth control. 

If Amendment 3 passes, Missouri’s Constitution would be amended to restore women’s fundamental right to make and carry out decisions about reproductive healthcare. The amendment would remove the total ban on abortion before fetal viability, and it would also mean the government would not discriminate in funding in federal programs or against persons providing or obtaining reproductive healthcare.  

“This could be a major difference in the necessary health for a lot of members of our community,” said Maddy Molyneux, Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) President. “It’s important to get access to abortion and reproductive care restored to as many people as possible, as soon as possible.”

According to official ballot language, a “Yes” vote does all of this, while a “No” vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri. 

“[If Amendment 3 passed], it would mean that WashU students no longer have to live in fear that if they needed reproductive care in the form of an abortion, that they would have to leave the state to access that,” Molyneux said. 

Compared to many Missouri residents, on average, WashU students are much more financially equipped to handle cost associated with abortion, given the high number of students who come from well-off families. 

“I think we often take for granted that many of our WashU student population come from blue states, and we are, in general, a pretty wealthy student body. So it’s easy to think, on an individual level, ‘If I needed this type of care, I could just hop on a plane, fly home and get the care that I need safely and legally,’” Molyneux said. “But that’s not the case for every student or every professor or every employee of the University. There are many, many members of the WashU community for whom that would be a pretty severe undertaking.”

Based on a poll taken by St. Louis University and YouGov in August of 2024, 52% of respondents supported Amendment 3, 34% opposed it, and 14% were unsure on how they plan to vote. By September, a poll taken by the Emerson College Polling Center showed that 58% of respondents were in favor of Amendment 3, 30% opposed it, and 12% were unsure. 

Randall Calvert —WashU Professor Emeritus of Political Science — said that the polls are likely accurate. 

“The polls shouldn’t change drastically by election time, so it looks pretty optimistic for Amendment 3.” 

While these polls reflect the projected voting trends of St. Louis’ general population, many student groups feel it is vital that students are staying educated on Missouri’s political landscape. 

PPGA has been working to disseminate as much information as possible through educational meetings, Instagram posts, infographics, and phone banking at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers (PPGR). On election day, members will be distributing sample ballots outside of the Athletic Complex — the samples will delineate, based on PPGA’s endorsements, how PPGA suggests students should vote.  

“It sort of simplifies things for you: It makes it easy for you to just check those boxes, which would of course include Amendment 3,” Molyneux said. 

Caden Stockwill — Freshman and member of the WashU College Democrats — emphasized that “for a lot of people, this is the first time that they’re out of their households, and they’re researching for themselves, forming their own opinions, and things of that nature.” 

WashU Democrats hosts campaign activities, events, and meetings on campus in order to promote the importance of voting and create a space where people can ask questions and get information about political involvement. 

“You should be able to choose if you want to have a child or not, at the end of the day, and College Democrats recognize[s] that as a fundamental liberty … That’s why it’s so important to advocate for it,” Stockwill said. 

However, not all WashU students share these political views. Specifically, WashU’s College Republicans oppose Amendment 3, serving as a conservative voice on campus. 

“Life begins at conception,” said Mason Letteau Stallings, WashU College Republicans President. “Ergo, I would say that abortion is taking a human life.” 

Amendment 3 would legalize abortion up to fetal viability, meaning up to the point that the fetus could survive outside of the womb; for members of College Republicans, that is too far. Letteau Stallings said that he believes fetal viability is an arbitrary distinction because newborns would also be unable to survive without outside care. 

“For us to allow the state-sanctioned killing of a human life, I just think that’s horrible, and something that I don’t think should stand,” Letteau Stallings said. “People would become numb to the taking of unborn life.” 

As political parties have become increasingly polarized, Calvert argues that abortion is predominantly driving this separation.

“It’s not unreasonable to think that abortion [has] really [been] the strongest lever that separates Americans ideologically and politically since the late 1970s — that sort of division didn’t exist before Roe v. Wade,” Calvert said. 

Letteau Stallings feels that, although abortion has become divisive, it should not be a partisan issue. 

“I think it’s rather tragic,” he said. “In terms of working on common principles, there’s a lot that can be done.” 

Calvert added that, in the future, people may look back on abortion as a defining topic of this generation. 

“With the perspective of another 100 years, one might look back on this age of American politics as the ‘age of the abortion issue,’ every bit as much as we look at the first half of the 19th century as the age of the slavery issue. [Abortion has] been that influential and that dominant in the shape of American politics overall.”