‘It’s a huge relief’: Planned Parenthood reacts to rejection of Missouri Amendment 3

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KQTV) -- Planned Parenthood is calling Missouri Amendment 3 a win for Missouri after voters rejected it on November 3.

Emily Wales, President/CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, reflected on the passage of Amendment 3 in 2024, which constitutionally protected abortion in Missouri, and Amendment 6, which she says places constraints on lawmakers seeking to undermine the will of voters.

"We feel great. I think it's a huge relief to patients who have been trying to figure out what was going to happen with care," Wales said.

The campaign behind Amendment 3, she said, took months of work.

"It was months planning, organizing, knocking on doors," Wales said. "Unfortunately, the legislature made the decision to undermine the will of the people, but that gave us a lot of time to plan."

Even after the 2024 amendment passed, Wales said patients remained fearful and confused about whether abortion was still legal and whether they could face repercussions.

"It has been a decades long process of the legislature and anti-abortion politicians to push care out of reach, and to create a feeling of shame or stigma around accessing abortion care," she said.

Wales said Planned Parenthood's work extends beyond providing care, their mission to also reassure patients that their decisions are valid.

"A lot of the work that we do, yes, is providing abortion care, but also telling people you access care for whatever reason is meaningful and important to you," she said.

On Amendment 6, which passed this year, Wales said the measure gives voters a check on legislative overreach.

"It feels great. It's an exciting thing to think that the legislature might actually have some constraints on what they can do when it comes to undermining the will of the people," she said.

Wales said she would not be surprised to see more public funding directed to anti-abortion centers, which she says do not offer medical care or medically accurate information, but she does not expect an increase in protests.

"I don't think we'll have more protesters, though," she said. "When it comes down to it, Missourians want people to get care in their home communities and just to be respected and treated with dignity."

Wales reiterated that abortion is now legal in Missouri through fetal viability.

Planned Parenthood offers procedural and medication abortion at four centers in Missouri, though Wales noted some litigation continues.

"There is still a lawsuit that has happened in the last couple of years related to the First Amendment," Wales said. "So not everything is decided about abortion access. But most patients in Missouri can access care now, and that's really important."

Wales says that abortion is health care, and that government should play no role in those decisions.

"At the end of the day, abortion is health care and people seek healthcare for all kinds of reasons," she said. "Government politicians have no role in those decisions."

On the legislature's decision to attach restrictions on transgender care for minors to the 2026 amendment, Wales said the move was intended to confuse voters.

"It was definitely intended to confuse voters by putting two issues together, and it was really a disingenuous attempt by the legislature to create fear among people," she said.

Wales said patients no longer need to fear legal repercussions for seeking abortion care in Missouri.

"Abortion care as a part of the spectrum of reproductive freedom is constitutionally protected care in the Missouri State Constitution," she said. "That care is protected and your rights are your own."

She also noted that abortion is now largely treated like other forms of health care.

"Right now, abortion is being treated for the most part, like other forms of health care, which is exactly what Planned Parenthood fought for," Wales said. "You can actually make an appointment and come in the same day if there's an appointment available."

Looking ahead, Wales said the national conversation around abortion has shifted in recent years.

"I do know that for the first time in many, many families, people have talked about the importance of abortion," she said. "They've talked about the importance of making decisions that are best for you and your family. And I certainly hope that continues."

Abortion is legal in Missouri through fetal viability and constitutionally protected under Amendment 3.

Care is available at multiple Planned Parenthood centers statewide, and in most cases, patients can be seen the same day.