Two years ago, I wrote a column about Missouri Amendment 3 and the importance of protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. 

Now, here we are, preparing to vote on Amendment 3 — again — and I find myself revisiting not only the issue itself, but the reason we are having this conversation a second time.

In 2024, Missouri voters approved Amendment 3, enshrining reproductive freedom in our state constitution. It was a decision made by the people of Missouri. Yet, just two years later, voters are being asked to reconsider that decision and potentially undo what they already approved — and it’s being presented largely as a vote to prohibit transgender surgeries for minors, a red herring to the “repeal of the constitutional right to reproductive freedom.”

I have a problem with that. It’s not because I believe voters should never revisit an issue, but because I believe the will of the people should mean something. If the outcome of an election can simply be sent back to voters — packaged differently — until the desired result is achieved, what exactly are we accomplishing when we vote in the first place?

But my concerns about Amendment 3 go beyond the ballot box. They go to something I have been experiencing firsthand — the reality of navigating women’s healthcare in a system that too often leaves women feeling unheard, dismissed and exhausted.

For more than two years, I have been dealing with chronic health issues that have sent me from one doctor to another, from one specialist to another, trying to find answers. Appointments, tests, referrals, follow-ups and more appointments. 

Each time, you hope someone will finally connect the dots. You hope someone will look at the whole picture instead of just the latest test result or the one symptom that brought you into the office that day.

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes with repeatedly explaining what is happening inside your own body, only to leave another appointment feeling as though you have not been heard. It is difficult enough to live with symptoms that interfere with your daily life. 

It is another thing entirely to feel that you must convince someone that those symptoms deserve attention.

I am not suggesting that every doctor is uncaring or that every medical professional dismisses women. I have encountered people who are trying to help. 

But, I have also been scoffed at and had eyes dismissively rolled in my direction when I was at some of my worst moments in pain. The saddest part of that is that it wasn’t when I saw a specialist in Springfield, or when I drove to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota – it was here in my own town.  

I have a male friend who has been seen for similar bladder and/or kidney concerns (no one knows for sure). We received the exact same procedure. Mine was performed at the end of the appointment it was first brought up. His was scheduled so he could be put under sedation and receive appropriate pain management. 

Women’s health is complicated. Symptoms can overlap. Conditions can be difficult to diagnose. Sometimes answers take time. But there is a difference between acknowledging that medicine does not have an immediate answer and making a patient feel as though the problem is no longer worth pursuing.

Too many women find themselves becoming their own case managers. We keep track of test results, remember which medications we have tried, repeat our histories, coordinate appointments and try to make sense of information that may never be considered simultaneously. We are expected to advocate for ourselves while we are already exhausted from whatever brought us into the doctor’s office to begin with.

That experience has reinforced my feelings about heading to the ballot box and casting another vote for reproductive rights specifically.

Supporting abortion rights means believing that the decision belongs to each woman, in consultation with her medical providers and according to her own circumstances, values and needs. It means recognizing that pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, abortion and reproductive complications are deeply personal medical matters, not decisions that can be reduced to a political talking point.

I support abortion rights. I believe women should have the ability to make decisions about their own bodies and reproductive futures without the government inserting itself between a patient and her healthcare.

And, I believe that position is entirely consistent with wanting better healthcare for women in general.

That is why I find it particularly troubling that we are being asked to revisit Amendment 3 so soon after Missouri voters approved it. This is not simply a debate about a number on a ballot. It is a debate about whether reproductive freedom should remain protected and whether women should retain meaningful control over decisions that affect their health and their lives.

On Nov. 3, Missouri voters will once again have a say. This time, a no vote preserves the reproductive freedom protections approved in 2024. A yes vote would repeal those protections and replace them with much narrower exceptions for abortion.

I will be voting no.

I believe the decisions surrounding pregnancy and reproductive healthcare should remain between a woman and her medical providers. And, I believe a statewide vote should not be treated as an obstacle for any woman to overcome because some people disagree with an outcome they have no stake in or understanding of.

My own health struggles have reminded me how vulnerable a woman can feel when she is searching for answers and depending on others to help her find them. I cannot imagine adding the fear of losing control over my reproductive decisions to that experience.

Women deserve a healthcare system that treats us as partners in our care, not inconveniences to be managed — in my personal experience.

We deserve a government that respects our ability to make decisions about our own lives.

We have already had this conversation. Missouri voters made their decision in 2024. Now, we have the opportunity to decide whether those protections remain.

I hope we remember that our vote is not just about politics. It is about people, their bodies, their health and their right to make deeply personal decisions for themselves.

It is about trusting women.

That is a fight worth having, a fight I will participate in as many times as I have to. I will fight for myself and my daughters, and for you and your daughters — no matter how tired I am.

Jordan Troutman is the Owner and General Manager of the Cassville Democrat, former president of the Ozark Press Association, a wife, a mother of two daughters and a graduate of Capella University with a Bachelor’s in General Psychology. She is pursuing a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy. She may be reached at [email protected].