Bishops urge Missourians to pray, fast, vote for passage of Amendment 3
Missouri’s Roman Catholic bishops are urging Christians and all people of goodwill to work, sacrifice and vote for the passage of Amendment 3.
The proposed amendment, one of several slated for the statewide ballot on Nov. 3, would restore Missouri lawmakers’ authority to regulate abortion. It would also prohibit pharmaceutical and surgical gender-transition procedures on minors.
Passage would require a simple majority of voters statewide.
“We cannot be indifferent when our state Constitution fails to safeguard who most need its protection,” the bishops said in their statement, released Oct. 5 via letter and an online video.
“We urge you to pray and fast, to speak with your family and friends and to continue working to pass Amendment 3,” they stated.
The bishops observed that Amendment 3 would repeal the most harmful provisions of a 2024 amendment that enshrined a broad right to abortion in the Missouri Constitution.
That amendment passed by a less-than-2-percent statewide margin.
The bishops said Amendment 3 would restore for women and unborn babies, meaningful protections that were stripped away in 2024.
Amendment 3 would allow Missouri once again to require basic health and safety standards for clinics, safeguard parental rights, and substantially limit abortion in this state, while ensuring that women continue to have access to medical care for emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages.
“Furthermore,” the bishops noted, “Amendment 3 would permanently protect boys and girls by prohibiting destructive gender-transition procedures, including surgeries, puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones, in the state Constitution.”
They acknowledged that Amendment 3 isn’t perfect, but “it would be a significant step toward restoring protections for women and children in Missouri.”
The bishops noted that their role as Church leaders comes with “a solemn duty to defend the dignity of every person and to stand for people whose lives and well-being are most vulnerable.”
“As Catholics, we do not leave our faith at the door when we enter the public square,” they said. “Our Baptism calls us to follow Jesus Christ in every part of our lives, including responsibilities we have as citizens.”
“Worship pleasing to God can never be a purely private matter,” they stated, echoing Pope Benedict XVI (+2005-2013).
In his 2007 apostolic exhortation, “Sacramentum Caritalis,” Pope Benedict reminded all the faithful “to bear public witness to the fundamental values, including the defense of human life from conception to natural death.”
Missouri’s bishops pointed out that such witness begins with “truth that cannot be reduced to a matter of political preference.”
“Every human life is sacred because every person is created in the image and likeness of God,” they observed. “The protection of innocent human life is therefore a matter of fundamental moral justice.”
Signing the Oct. 5 statement were: Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis, Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell of Jefferson City, Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and Bishop Edward M. Rice of Springfield-Cape Girardeau.
They did so in their role as board members of the Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC) (mocatholic.org).
The MCC is the public-policy agency of the state’s four Roman Catholic dioceses.
“Whether you vote early or vote on Nov. 3, vote YES on Amendment 3,” the bishops stated.
“Stand with the unborn child who cannot speak for himself or herself,” they continued. “Stand with the woman who deserves accompaniment and care, not an unregulated abortion at an unsafe clinic.
“Stand with the child who deserves the freedom to grow and mature without being subjected to harmful life-altering procedures,” they said.
The video and the full text of the statement, in English and Spanish, can be found at: diojeffcity.org/amendment3.
