When it goes into effect in December, Amendment 3 will protect abortion up to what’s known as fetal viability — which is about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Missourians voted to reverse the state’s strict abortion ban in the Nov. 5 election. Here’s when Amendment 3 will take effect.

When Missouri on Tuesday became the first state to overturn a near-total abortion ban by the vote of the people, Desiree White cried happy tears. Twenty-five years earlier, she and her husband chose to terminate a pregnancy they very much wanted after they received a diagnosis of a fatal fetal abnormality.