The Facts: Abortion Was Never Safe in Missouri
The Facts: Abortion Was Never Safe in Missouri
For years before the Dobbs decision, abortion advocates liked to say abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” In Missouri, the truth was different.
According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, women here routinely faced serious medical complications after abortions. We are talking about hemorrhaging, infection, and failed abortions that left women pregnant after the procedure.
In 2018 alone, Missouri doctors reported 68 complication cases involving 79 total medical issues. That included 22 failed abortions, 32 cases of retained fetal tissue, and 15 hemorrhages. Twenty-two women were hospitalized.
Even as abortion numbers went down, the percentage of complications stayed high, roughly 2 percent of recorded abortions in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, 29 women were hospitalized, and reports listed uterine perforations, retained fetal tissue, and heavy bleeding among the complications.
The state documented a similar pattern in 2017, noting complications in 1.9 percent of Missouri abortions that year.
These are not just statistics. They represent real Missouri women who thought they were getting normal medical care but ended up in the emergency room instead.
The Troubled Record of Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic
By 2019, the last abortion clinic in Missouri, operated by Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, was under investigation by state regulators. The Department of Health cited serious patient safety problems, including failed surgical abortions, when it moved to deny the clinic’s license.
Officials also found troubling issues with lab processes and post-procedure care.
In one case, a woman’s pregnancy continued after a surgical abortion.
From 2009-2016, ambulances were called to this clinic once every 46 days.
These were not isolated mistakes. They showed a pattern of poor oversight that put women’s health at risk.
After Dobbs: What Is at Stake Now
After the Dobbs ruling, Missouri became the first state to protect unborn life. But, the Abortion Industry and its foreign-backed campaign spending changed the constitution in 2024.
Now, Planned Parenthood is using the new amendment to sue the state, hoping to eliminate all health and safety protections on Abortion Clinics.
The Courts seem poised to give them whatever they want.
That is why Amendment 3 matters. It would restore Missouri’s authority to enforce medical standards, inspect facilities, and hold abortion providers accountable when women are harmed.
Women deserve better than the empty promises of an unregulated abortion industry. They deserve compassion, real care, and the protection of Missouri law.
Vote YES on Amendment 3.
Andy Bakker
Executive Director
Liberty Alliance USA