Missouri Rep. Onder: Amendment 4 key to stopping abortion, gender surgeries for minors

Missouri voters have an important decision to make this August with Amendment 4. Before we vote on Amendment 3 in November to restore pro-life protections, repeal extreme abortion rules, and protect minors from gender transition procedures, we must also address a serious flaw in our system: the dangerously low threshold for changing our state constitution.

For too long, Missouri has seen initiative petitions pass with nothing more than a simple statewide majority, coming from a handful of counties. What resulted was radical abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood and George Soros pumping dark money into Missouri in order to enshrine expansive abortion rights and transgender procedures on minors into our constitution in 2024.

These campaigns routinely bus in paid out-of-state signature canvassers who descend on our neighborhoods with misleading arguments and, too often, ethically fast-and-loose methods. With a bottomless budget of dark money, signatures are collected and verified, putting these issues on the ballot. These measures are often deceptively worded by activist judges. And since they are added to our Constitution, they are nearly impossible for our elected representatives to reverse.

This is exactly why Amendment 4 is essential to the long-term staying power of Amendment 3. Amendment 4 requires that any future initiative petition win not only a statewide majority but also majorities in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. This ensures real consensus across our state, not just urban strongholds pushing national agendas. It gives rural and suburban Missourians a real voice.

Amendment 4 also cracks down on petition fraud by strengthening safeguards against shady practices in the signature gathering process. If Amendment 3 passes this November, God willing, left-wing groups will surely try to overturn it. Without Amendment 4, they could succeed again with the same flood of out-of-state dark money and misleading tactics. With Amendment 4 in place, those efforts will face tighter scrutiny, and a much higher bar.

Critics will call this anti-democratic. I call it common sense. The Missouri Constitution should not be for sale. It should reflect the enduring values of Missouri families. Amendment 4 protects our foundational document from easy manipulation. I urge Missourians to vote yes on Amendment 4 on Aug. 4 and Amendment 3 in November. Amendment 3 restores a more mainstream approach to life issues that better reflects the will of Missourians. Amendment 4 makes sure those protections endure. Our state deserves a constitution grounded in enduring principles, reflecting the will of all Missourians, urban, suburban, and rural alike.

(Image credit: Screenshot/Missouri GOP)