To The Editor: Voting No On Amendment 3 Is About Protecting Parents' Rights

Come this November, Missourians will have the chance to vote on amending the Missouri Constitution… again. This time, the discussion is abortion. Since long before Roe v. Wade, people across the world have debated on whether or not a person has a right to kill their offspring. What has been argued about far less, though, is whether or not a parent has a right to make decisions for their offspring. While claiming to establish a right in one hand, the people seeking to implement Amendment 3 are using their other hand to try to remove rights. Parents’ rights.

The secret entrance in this amendment is in the following language: “Section 2. The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care and respectful birthing conditions.

Section 3. The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the Government demonstrates that such action is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means. And denial, interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid.”

Did you catch that? ALL matters relating to reproductive organs shall not be denied. The language “reproductive care” has been adopted by the woke movement and allows for the right to transgender surgeries and other alterations for people of ANY age. That means your adorable 8-year old daughter who has been convinced that she is a boy can get any type of transitional “care” without your consent- or even your knowledge.

And dear parent, if you think that you can stand in their way- beware! Language like this being enshrined in our constitution means that your darling daughter, son, or grandkid has a constitutional right to do whatever they wish with their reproductive organs. Did you know your child can’t even get a tattoo until they are 18 in the state of Missouri, even with parental consent? And while you’re allowed to decide whether or not they eat their vegetables, whether or not they put effort into their education, whether or not they wear a winter coat when playing in the snow, you are not allowed to decide if they have life-altering irreversible changes made for their bodies. Should you interfere with their constitutional rights, you may find that your child is being removed from your home. After all, it's your job to provide “care” for them, and saying no to “reproductive rights” means you are not caring for your child. In Indiana a couple refused to affirm their son’s chosen gender identity and the state took him away under false allegations of abuse. The allegations were proven false and the state still refused to give him back. Laws that allow for this are already in place in other states such as Minnesota, California, and Washington.

I find it odd that anyone would think you can end the life of your offspring, but not make life-altering decisions for them.

So while some people chant that the government has no right to tell them what they do with their bodies, I say the government has no right to tell me how I’m allowed to protect my children. Parental rights do not come from the government, they come from God. Even our U.S. Constitution says so. So PLEASE, do not allow the government to take something from us that they have no right to. If we allow this language to be enshrined in state constitutions in America, we are giving our children over to the government. No thank you.

It is my hope that we can still protect our children and that people care enough about the future generations to protect them from the growing monster our government is fast-becoming. If you never vote on anything else ever again, PLEASE get out and vote NO on Amendment 3 in this upcoming November election. Let's stand up and protect the rights of ALL humans, no matter where they are located, who they are located in, or how young or old they are. You may think that this is Missouri, and we’re very conservative (I’m watching this swiftly change, by the way), and that there is no reason why such an amendment should pass here anyway. But you’d be very wrong. In fact there are many who claim conservatism and even Christianity who would say that abortion and transgender surgeries for children are wrong, but it’s not their place to judge or make decisions for others. This is sadly a common thought and does nothing for those too little to protect themselves.

Getting out to vote is the least that you can do to save a life, and to preserve a body as God intended it to be. VOTE NO on Amendment 3. Do your part.

https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/2024-086.pdf

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2860444/indiana-parents-supreme-court-weigh-transgender-child-custody/

https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/08/minnesota-walz-gender-affirming-care-sex-changes-parent-child/

https://mynorthwest.com/3874975/minors-seeking-gender-affirming-treatment-shelter-without-parents-knowledge-bill/