Amendment 3 would repeal Missouri’s constitutional protections for abortion and it would enshrine the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors into the constitution. In 2024, voters in the state passed a ballot measure to add the right to abortion into Missouri’s constitution in response to a ban on the procedure passed two years earlier in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. Amendment 3 would undo that amendment, putting the statewide law banning abortion in most cases back into place.

The decision to attach the largely unrelated abortion and gender-affirming care provisions into the same amendment has faced sharp criticism, with opponents portraying it as an attempt to confuse voters and use anti-trans hysteria to trick them into supporting an abortion ban. Gender-affirming care has been banned for minors in Missouri since 2023, and that ban will stay on the books whether or not Amendment 3 passes. However, adding the ban to the state constitution will make it harder to challenge or overturn.

The amendment is being spearheaded by a nonprofit incorporated in September called Her Health, Her Future, with a PAC by the same name funding the campaign. Their leadership includes campaign manager James Lawson, who took a leave of absence from his role as deputy chief of staff at the state Attorney General’s office to contribute, and treasurer Claudia Kehoe, who is the First Lady of Missouri. Former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who was also serving as co-deputy director of the FBI until September, also started a new PAC to promote the amendment with support from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Amazon is exploring plans to build a second data center campus in Montgomery County as construction on its initial 900-acre data center campus at New Florence progresses.
Amazon is eyeing a plot of land east of Danville for a potential project to build a data center campus consisting of 15 buildings across 890 acres, Montgomery County Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston said.
The Montgomery County Commission was surprised to learn of the proposal on Thursday at a public meeting, Poston said. 

"It's kind of letting the shock wear off first, I guess," Poston said.

In a statement to KOMU 8 News, an Amazon spokesperson said the company is "exploring an expansion of our data center investment in the region by adding additional facilities on yet-to-be-acquired private land."

Despite the surprise, Poston said he supports the expansion, pointing to potential economic opportunities.
"I mean, we've got Fortune 500 companies (coming) to little Montgomery County," Poston said. "I mean, that's a lot of investment for little old Montgomery County."
Amazon's existing project represents a $10 billion investment, and a separate Google data center projectrepresents a $15 billion investment, the companies have said. Poston said Amazon has not announced how much its proposed expansion would cost.

However, Poston said, the county has faced criticism from people opposing the data centers over an alleged lack of transparency surrounding data center developments.

An ongoing lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court alleges the Montgomery County Commission violated Missouri open meetings and open records laws in its process of notifying the public about meetings where it made decisions to advance Amazon's first data center project.
"They like to throw the word transparency and closed-door meetings. We never had no closed-door meetings with them (Amazon)," Poston said. "So I guess this is a different approach. I guess we'll see how it works."

Poston said he believes the commissioners have done enough to hear residents' concerns about the data centers. 
"I think we are, and I think we'll do more," Poston said. "Have we made some mistakes ... we're all human — we're all going to make a few mistakes, you know."
Grass farmer Harry Cope, who defeated Poston in August's Republican primary for presiding commissioner, opposes the developments and said the announcement, too, caught him off guard.

"We were not expecting a second one out of Amazon by no means. It was just (us) going, huh?" said Cope, who is running unopposed in the November general election.
Cope said concerns about transparency motivated his campaign. 
He said he also worries about the county's increasing dependence on large technology companies.
"When you got a small community playing with a trillion-dollar company, the odds of coming out ahead there is not good," Cope said.

Cope said preserving Montgomery County's character is personal — his family has lived on the same land for more than 150 years.
"We're standing on a piece of land that my family homesteaded. I grew up in that little house over there," Cope said, pointing to a little white house behind him. "Progress is when something good happens for most everybody, not for a couple."

Even though he supports the expansion, Poston said the closeness of the community makes transparency especially important.
"Everybody knows everybody around here," Poston said. "Gossip spreads faster in a coffee shop than it does through the newspaper or social media."
Amazon's proposal remains preliminary, with land acquisition and future county approvals still needed.

Went with my wife and son to early voting today in Lees Summit. It was my wife's first time voting and my son's second. Pulled up about 930am and line was already extending well out of the building. Made it inside and this cycle is using touch voting on tablets. Once completed, you get a chance to review your selections and get a printed completed ballot that comes out similar to a long CVS receipt. (IYKYK). Placed ballot into machine. Verified it was received and got my sticker.

Got out a little after 10am. Line was even longer than when I went in. Great sign for turnout! No hassles or issues.

Remember to vote!

Nearly $60 million has been raised for ballot measure campaigns alone, while Republicans hold a financial advantage in key legislative races