Dear Deaconess Community,

As November approaches, recent victories remind us that Missourians have the power to make historic change, and we have reason to believe we can do it again.

In August, voters overwhelmingly defeated Amendments 4 and 5, protecting the citizen initiative process and rejecting a proposal to eliminate the state income tax and expand sales taxes. More than 80 percent voted against each measure. These historic wins reflect people organizing, sharing information, and showing up to protect their communities and their ability to shape Missouri’s future.

That determination has also carried through to the fight over Missouri’s congressional districts. Missourians gathered more than 300,000 signatures to challenge the legislature’s redrawn map, then defended their right to a referendum in court. Their persistence secured the opportunity to decide the map’s future at the ballot box.

Making history again in November is within reach. The following Missouri ballot measures offer an opportunity to protect healthcare rights, defend the decisions voters make, and preserve community power and representation.

No on Amendment 3: Protect Healthcare Rights Missourians Already Approved and Protect the Health, Dignity, and Well-being of Our Communities

In 2024, Missourians voted to remove the state’s ban on abortion and establish the right for individuals to make decisions about their personal healthcare. That was a historic affirmation of people’s authority over their health and their futures. Amendment 3 would reverse that decision, sharply restrict abortion, and limit the care families can seek for their children in consultation with healthcare providers.

At Deaconess, our position is clear: people deserve access to healthcare, and decisions about that care should remain with patients, families, and their trusted providers. Those decisions can involve complex medical circumstances and deeply held beliefs. Respecting that complexity means protecting people’s ability to make informed choices based on their own lives and needs.

Health justice also demands that we consider who bears the consequences when care is restricted. Cost, transportation, and a shortage of providers already put care out of reach for many people. Further restrictions deepen those barriers. Our public institutions have a responsibility to make healthcare accessible and responsive to people’s needs.
Missourians have already spoken.

The legislature’s effort to undo those protections calls us to defend both access to care and the people’s decision. Voting NO on Amendment 3 preserves the rights voters established and protects the health, dignity, and well-being of our communities.

Yes on Amendment 6: Protect the People’s Decisions

Missouri’s citizen initiative process has made historic progress possible. Communities have organized to expand Medicaid, raise the minimum wage, secure paid sick leave, and establish personal healthcare rights. These victories began with people identifying what their communities needed and using their collective power to change the law.

But winning at the ballot box has not always meant those decisions are respected. When the legislature weakens or overturns voter-approved laws, it undermines both the progress communities secured and the public’s authority to govern.

Amendment 6 would strengthen the initiative and referendum process, preserve statewide majority rule, and protect voter-enacted laws from being changed without another public vote. Proposed changes would require approval from at least 80 percent of each legislative chamber before going back to voters.

In August, Missourians decisively rejected an attempt to weaken their power through Amendment 4. November offers the opportunity to build on that victory. Voting YES on Amendment 6 protects the people’s ability to make historic change and makes it harder for the legislature to undo it.

No on Proposition A: Reject Gerrymandering, Protect Community Power

Proposition A brings Missouri’s congressional redistricting fight directly to voters. It asks whether to approve the map the legislature passed in September 2025, which is the same map that has consumed months of organizing, public attention, and legal challenges.

The redrawn map splits Kansas City among multiple congressional districts to create a political advantage, weakening the community’s ability to elect a representative responsive to its shared priorities. District boundaries shape whose voices are heard and whether communities can act together to influence decisions affecting their lives.

Last month the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that voters have the right to approve or reject the map and that it cannot take effect without their approval. After further attempts to impose it through federal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court intervened again on September 25, keeping the congressional boundaries enacted in 2022 in place for this November’s election.

Those court victories protected the opportunity Missourians fought to secure. Now voters can reject the redrawn map outright. Voting NO on Proposition A rejects gerrymandering that weakens community power and representation and preserves the congressional boundaries enacted in 2022.

The victories of recent months give us something to celebrate and something to build upon. On November 3, we can carry that momentum forward: No on Amendment 3. Yes on Amendment 6. No on Proposition A.

In service to the mission,

Bethany Johnson-Javois
President & CEO

Read the full October 2026 newsletter here.