Statewide officials stepped up to the podium at the Missouri Capitol rotunda Wednesday to declare an absolute urgency for pro-lifers to head to the polls this fall and vote yes on constitutional Amendment 3, to return to a pro-life state.

Hundreds of advocates and supporters packed the capitol for Missouri Right to Life’s Action Day, highlighting the biggest issues facing the pro-life movement in the Show-Me State.

“In Missouri, the number one issue this year is life,” Lt. Gov. David Wasinger said. “We have amendment three on the ballot, and it’s absolutely essential that we educate your families and friends.”

The sweeping ballot measure would restore pro-life laws protecting innocent life and prohibit dangerous “transgender” sex-change procedures on kids.

“We’re just a pro-life state with some bad laws right now,” said state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, speaking about the passage of the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” which wrote the right to abortion into the state constitution in 2024. 

“That doesn’t make us a pro-abortion state; that makes us a state that got outspent at the ballot, and fearmongering was used. Now it’s our turn to come back and get us back to where we need to be with amendment 3.

“I’ll be out campaigning alongside the great people at Missouri Right to Life and all the grassroots advocates across our state to return Missouri to pro-life glory.”

State Rep. Holly Jones issued a fervent call for churches to mobilize ahead of the fall elections for the Amendment 3 “fix,” sharing a behind-the-scenes story of praying over the bill’s pages in her apartment to ensure the final language aligned with her convictions rather than political pressure.

“Let me tell you something, the enemy walks these halls, and he doesn’t care about life,” Jones said. “In fact, he’s petitioning for all of their souls and ours.”

The rally also focused on current legislative efforts such as the “Born Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act.” The House bill passed over to the Senate, where it is currently laid over, meaning it has been temporarily set aside but can be brought back up for debate at a later time. Jones ensured the crowd the bill would pass both chambers this year.

“It has been laid over in the Senate, but it will pass this year,” Jones told the cheering crowd. “We will get born alive protection … done this year, and if we don’t, by some plan of the enemy, we won’t stop, I promise you that.”

For keynote speaker Melissa Ohden, the founder of The Abortion Survivors Network, the legislation is deeply personal. Ohden, a Missouri resident whose biological mother lives in Odessa, survived a saline infusion abortion nearly 50 years ago.

“You know we’re known as the Show-Me State, but thanks to you, we are so much more than the Show-Me State, in my opinion. We’re the Show-Up State,” Ohden told the crowd. “We show up for our neighbors, for mothers in need and for children like me whose voices are not heard.”

Ohden stressed that passing born-alive protections is a common-sense necessity to ensure infants who survive abortions receive the same standard of care as any other child born in a Missouri hospital.

“This is also what people don’t understand about our movement. We are not just about laws; we’re about love in action, and that’s what I love so much about the work that all of us do.”

The rally included prayer and the singing of the Christian worship song How Great Is Our God and the hymn Amazing Grace.