Public policy can and often does reflect moral reasoning

In a recent letter, Maxine and Ken Horgan claim that the proposed 2026 constitutional amendment would allow women to be charged with murder for miscarriages and represents an attempt by Rep. Lisa Durnell, Sen. Bennie Cook, and Sen. Brad Hudson to impose their religious beliefs on Missouri voters. Both assertions collapse under the plain language of Missouri law and the certified ballot summary.

 

First, the legal claim is unsound. Missouri Revised Statutes § 565.020 provides that a person commits murder in the first degree only if he or she "knowingly causes the death of another person after deliberation upon the matter." A miscarriage is a spontaneous, naturally occurring medical event. It satisfies none of these statutory elements. The proposed amendment does not amend this homicide statute or create any new criminal liability for pregnancy loss.

 

Second, the certified ballot language for the amendment directly contradicts the accusation. A "yes" vote would: • Repeal the 2024 voter-approved Amendment providing reproductive healthcare rights, including abortion through fetal viability; • Guarantee access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages; • Allow legislation to regulate abortion providers and facilities to ensure health and safety; • Require informed and voluntary consent for abortion, including parental or judicial consent for minors; • Allow restriction of abortions to cases of medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest (with rape and incest limited to under twelve weeks' gestation); • Prohibit gender transition procedures for minors.

 

Nowhere in that language—or in the amendment text itself—does any citation of Scripture, invocation of religious doctrine, or theological mandate appear. If the authors believe otherwise, they are invited to quote the specific provision.

 

Public policy can and often does reflect moral reasoning shared by millions of Missourians without constituting religious coercion. Disagreement on abortion policy is legitimate. Mischaracterizing the statutory text and the certified ballot language is not.

 

I encourage the authors of the original letter to become more fully informed about Missouri state law and the precise issues involved before advancing such serious and consequential claims in the public square.

 

An Informed Citizen,

Hunter Ward, West Plains