Missouri Voters Reject Ban Amendment

Voters rejected Amendment 3, which would have written existing bans on minor gender transition procedures into the state constitution.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Elections

Live Poll

Should state laws ban gender transition surgeries for minors?

Missouri voters rejected Amendment 3 by 55.5% to 44.5%. The measure would have written the state's existing bans on gender transition surgeries and drugs for minors into the state constitution.

Why it matters

The vote leaves the current statutory restrictions in place without constitutional entrenchment. The statutory ban on hormones and puberty blockers is set to expire on Aug. 28, 2027, while the surgery ban has no expiration date.

Amendment 3 failed 55.5% to 44.5%, a margin of 11 percentage points. The statutory ban applies to minors under 18, and whether the hormone and puberty blocker restrictions will be renewed before their 2027 expiration remains unaddressed.

The players

Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act

The Missouri statute, formally Senate Bill 49, that imposes the ban on gender transition surgeries and drugs for minors and sets license-revocation penalties for providers.

The details

Senate Bill 49, also known as the Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, took effect Aug. 28, 2023. It makes gender transition surgeries on minors illegal, bars prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to minors for gender transition, and treats performing such surgery as unprofessional conduct that could lead to license revocation.

Aug. 28, 2023: Senate Bill 49 takes effect.
Aug. 28, 2027: Hormone and puberty blocker ban scheduled to expire.

Political Context

Senate Bill 49 remains the operative law because voters declined to make its bans constitutional. Opponents of entrenching the restrictions argued the statute alone is sufficient, while the amendment's supporters sought to shield the ban from future legislative change.

Current Missouri law continues to bar minors from gender transition surgeries and, until Aug. 28, 2027, hormone and puberty blocker treatment for that purpose. Healthcare providers who perform surgery on minors face potential license revocation under the statute.

The takeaway

Missouri's statutory ban remains enforceable, and its restrictions on hormones and puberty blockers will lapse in 2027 unless the legislature acts. Readers tracking these rules should watch that expiration date.