COLUMBIA — Stop the Ban Missouri went door to door Saturday to remind Missouri residents to vote on Amendment 3, the amendment on the November ballot that would ban abortion in Missouri.
A group of about 20 people in Columbia headed out to share their thoughts and beliefs on Amendment 3.
Stop the Ban is a group of volunteers who work to defend the right to reproductive freedom. The coalition includes Abortion Action Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri, Beacon Reproductive Health Network, Planned Parent Hood Great Plains Vote as well as others.
Maggie Olivia, the director of policy and external affairs for Abortion Act!on Missouri, stated that the main message of the canvassing event was to inform Missouri voters to vote "NO on 3" in order to stop politicians from overturning the will of the people.
Olivia said the group is aiming to remind and inform people that they already voted on abortion.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway defended her support for withholding a gerrymandered congressional map and Amendment 6 from the ballot.
"This feels familiar because it is," Olivia said. "We already made a decision about abortion at the ballot box in 2024."
Amendment 3 will ask Missouri voters to amend the state constitution to ban most abortions, prior KOMU reporting states. The ban would leave exceptions only for medical emergencies, fetal anomaly and cases of rape or incest. In cases of rape or incest, the ban would only allow abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Amendment 3 would also ban gender transition surgeries and cross-hormone puberty blocking drugs for minors, unless the treatment is not for the purpose of gender transition.
Olivia got involved with Abortion Action Missouri after she had her own struggles with receiving abortion care in 2020.
"Because of a number of medically unnecessary restrictions, it was nearly impossible to get an abortion in Missouri at my own doctor's office," Olivia said. "That made me really mad frankly. Since then, I started taking action with Abortion Action Missouri."
The group is hoping to share that Missouri voters have voted on abortion already and aimed to remind people that Amendment 3 could overturn those rights.
Olivia said she believes Missouri residents have nuanced feelings on the topic of abortion. However, she has noticed and believes a majority of Missouri residents agree that politicians should not have a say in private matters with doctors, families or loved ones.
"We know that when folks understand that Amendment 3 is just an abortion ban that would overturn our votes from 2024," Olivia said, "folks really want to vote no and are really thankful for us starting those conversations."
The St. Louis Young Republicans, Her Health Her Future and Misouri River GOP will also be going door to door on Monday in support of Amendment 3. According to the St. Louis Young Republican's Facebook, Gov. Mike Kehoe and Missouri Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway are speaking at this event.
Olivia said many of the canvassers have told her they're nervous about hearing their neighbor's opinion and not being supported by them, but she said that most of the time the outcome is the opposite.
"I've noticed, for the most part, Missourians really care about respect for each other and Missourians really just want to work hard and care for our families," Olivia said. "I think living in state like Missouri where we've been under control of anti-abortion politicians for so long that they've made folks feel alone and they have to think about and move through decisions about pregnancy by themselves. When in reality, pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, all of these things are universal experiences that a lot of folks have experiences with."
Stop the Ban Missouri will continue its canvassing until it's time for Missouri residents to cast their vote.