Republican state lawmakers in Missouri on Wednesday approved a new referendum in a bid to undo an abortion rights amendment passed by voters last November.

Six months after Missouri voters approved an abortion-rights amendment​, Republican state lawmakers seek to repeal it and instead ban most abortions with exceptions for rape and incest.

Missouri workers are poised to lose new sick leave protections approved by voters last fall, after Republican lawmakers on Wednesday voted to repeal a ballot measure that garnered widespread public support.

Democrats pledged that the motion to end debate, unused since 2020, will mean confrontation and the end of cooperation.

The decision was remarkable, signifying a retaliatory response from the Republican-controlled General Assembly after nearly 52% of voters overturned the state’s abortion ban.

With just days remaining in the 2025 legislative session, unfinished Republican priorities include overturning voter-approved initiatives on abortion rights and paid sick leave.

The Missouri Senate on Thursday approved House Joint Resolution 73, which will put a near-total ban on abortion on the ballot in the November 2026 general election.

Former Missouri governor and U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, who was the youngest person ever elected to the state's highest office, died Tuesday. He was 86.

Bond’s political career spanned four decades, during which he went from young, relatively liberal whiz kid to born-again conservative.