Judge’s ruling imperils Missouri abortion rights ballot initiative

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. —  A Missouri judge ruled Friday that an abortion rights campaign did not meet legal requirements to qualify its constitutional amendment initiative for the November ballot, potentially thwarting a years-long effort to undo the state’s near-total abortion ban.

But Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh stopped short of removing the measure from the ballot. Instead, he gave the abortion rights campaign a chance to file a last-minute appeal before Tuesday’s deadline to make changes to the state ballot.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom will appeal the decision and hopes for “a swift resolution so that Missourians can vote on November 5 to protect reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, birth control and miscarriage care,” campaign manager Rachel Sweet said in a statement.

“The court’s decision to block Amendment 3 from appearing on the ballot is a profound injustice to the initiative petition process and undermines the rights of the 380,000 Missourians who signed our petition demanding a voice on this critical issue,” Sweet said.

In his ruling, Limbaugh said Missourians for Constitutional Freedom did not do enough during the signature-gathering process to inform voters that the measure would undo the state’s near-total abortion ban.

“That said, this court also recognizes the gravity of the unique issues involved in this case, and the lack of direct precedent on point,” Limbaugh wrote. “The court therefore will stay execution of issuing an injunction up until September 10, 2024, the statutory deadline for the case to be heard, so that further guidance or rulings can be provided by a reviewing court.”

At least eight other states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights this fall — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. Most would guarantee a right to abortion until fetal viability and allow it later for the health of the pregnant woman, which is what the Missouri proposal would do.

New York also has a ballot measure that proponents say would protect abortion rights, though there’s a dispute about what effect it would have.

Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions on their ballots since 2022 have sided with abortion rights supporters.

Missouri’s Amendment 3 would amend the state constitution to guarantee an individual’s right to get an abortion and “the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care.”

A group of abortion opponents last month sued to have the proposal removed from the ballot.

Plaintiff’s attorney Mary Catherine Martin said during a Friday bench trial that at least some voters would not have signed the petition to put the initiative on the ballot if they had known about all the laws that could be repealed.

“There is no way to know if the proponents of this radical amendment would have gathered enough signatures to place this on the ballot if the truth about the staggering scope of laws Amendment 3 invalidates had been disclosed,” the plaintiffs said in a statement after the judge’s ruling.

Loretta Haggard, a lawyer for the abortion rights campaign, argued that it would be up to future judges to decide which abortion laws are thrown out if the amendment is adopted.

“Courts should not give ‘advisory opinions’ or speculate whether a particular proposal would, if adopted, violate the law,” lawyers for the campaign wrote in a court brief.

Missouri banned most abortions immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022. There is an exception for medical emergencies, but almost no abortions have occurred at Missouri facilities since then.

Missouri’s American Civil Liberties Union branch, local Planned Parenthoods and a group called Abortion Action in Missouri launched a campaign to legalize abortion in response to the ban. Although women who receive abortions are protected from criminal liability in Missouri, anyone who performs an abortion outside the state’s limited exceptions faces felony charges.

Ballentine writes for the Associated Press.