Just several hours before Ballots were to be Finalized, the Missouri Supreme Court Ruled Tuesday afternoon, that a Measure to enshrine Abortion Rights in the State Constitution is Specific-Enough to Present to Voters in November.
The Decision came after a Short but Politically fraught Morning Hearing before All Seven Judges, Four Women, Five Appointees of Republican Governors. “By a majority vote of this Court, the circuit court’s judgment is reversed,” Chief Justice Mary R. Russell wrote.
Only days earlier, a Lower-Court Judge had Ruled the Ballot Measure Invalid, because it does Not Identify which Laws it would Repeal.
The Outcome means that Missouri will remain among more than six States with Measures to Protect Abortion Rights on their Ballots this Fall, including in Presidential Battleground States such as Arizona and Florida.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court Overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, every Ballot Measure that has sought to Preserve or Expand Abortion Access has Passed in Blue and Red States alike. Measures that have sought to Restrict Access have Failed, including in Conservative Kansas.
Abortion has been Illegal in Missouri since a Trigger Law took effect after Roe fell, with the only Exceptions to Save the Life and Health of the Mother. Amendment 3 would Permit the Procedure until Fetal Viability at about 24 weeks, the point in a Pregnancy when a Fetus can Survive outside the Womb.
A flurry of Legal Maneuvering had taken place since Friday’s Lower-Court Ruling. Though Supporters were granted a Stay to keep Amendment 3 on the Ballot until the Missouri Supreme Court heard Arguments, Secretary-of-State Jay Ashcroft (R) abruptly Decertified the Measure Monday, despite the Deadline for such Action already having Passed. In a Brief, He called the Measure “Deficient.”
Proponents immediately asked the State’s High Court to hold Ashcroft, son of former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, and an Unsuccessful Gubernatorial Candidate in last month’s Republican Primary, in Contempt.
They had already Successfully Sued Him over how He Summarized the Measure for Voters, with a different Circuit Judge criticizing His Wording as “unfair, insufficient, inaccurate and misleading.”
“This court has authority over this process right now. The public has been told — as they should have been — that you are going to decide whether this measure is on the ballot or not,” Chuck Hatfield, an Attorney for the Ballot Initiative Campaign, told the Court Tuesday, calling Ashcroft’s Decertification of the Measure “open contempt for your authority. It’s open contempt for the rule of law.”
Chuck Hatfield, an Attorney for "Missourians for Constitutional Freedom", argued the Case for Supporters of Amendment 3.
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