Missouri Supreme Court Rules Against Abortion Ballot Language

(Worthy News) – The Missouri Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for a proposed ballot initiative that sought to enshrine abortion into its state constitution in 2024.

But the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the case in question late Monday, keeping the lower court ruling intact, a ruling that found that Ashcroft’s wording was “filled with politically biased language.”

Ashcroft’s ballot summary asked voters if they wanted to “allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth, without requiring a medical license or potentially being subject to medical malpractice.”

Missouri lawmakers banned abortion in June of 2022 except for cases of medical emergency.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom submitted 11 petitions to modify the state’s abortion regulations. These petitions were enacted as law on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The legal challenges by Republicans regarding the petitions, which need to be signed by around 170,000 Missourians, would allow a referendum on the ballots for the general election in November next year.  The amendments on the ballot would “establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives” and “remove Missouri’s ban on abortion.”

Ashcroft reacted to the state’s high court ruling on Tuesday and issued a statement defending the language he used.

“We stand by our language — it fairly and accurately reflects the scope and magnitude of each petition,” Ashcroft said. “My responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure the people of Missouri have ballot language that they can understand and trust. If these petitions make it to the ballot, the people will decide. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure Missourians know the truth.”

Jay Ashcroft, the son of John Ashcroft, who served as a former governor, U.S. senator, and U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush, is one of four Republicans who have declared their intentions to run for governor next year.

 

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