Abortion amendment removed from the November ballot in Missouri

With the November election fast approaching, both candidates and advocates for ballot measures are scrambling for position on key issues.

At the tippy top of many to-do lists are abortion rights (or, in some cases, the lack thereof) as Democrats and Republicans balance their desire for good press with their personal beliefs

On Monday, Jay Ashcroft, Missouri's secretary of state, decertified Amendment 3, removing it from the November ballot. If the amendment were to succeed, it would guarantee abortion access in Missouri, as KMBC reported.

Ashcroft used a lower court's decision on a lawsuit filed late Friday out of Cole County to decertify the amendment, arguing that it was unlawful due to the absence of language specifying which statutes would be repealed if approved.

What it Means

In Missouri, the deadline for placing a measure on the absentee ballot before printing it is at five o'clock on Tuesday. The decertification establishes Amendment 3 as a candidate for a showdown with the state high court, which will take place with a short turnaround time.

Proponents of the amendment say that it would not be a repeal of laws but rather the creation of a new law that would replace a significant portion of the original legislation that is now in effect.

Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney for the Thomas More Society, stated on Friday that the campaign to restore abortion rights in Missouri created an amendment that is purposefully wide in order to fool voters into approving it.

Martin's argument was made in accordance with the Thomas More Society.

From the Parties

“They have not treated the voters with the respect that the Constitution requires,” Martin told reporters after the trial.

The abortion rights organization Missourians for Constitutional Freedom claimed that the lawsuit was an attempt to stop the people from voting on the amendment in a ballot box.

“Out-of-touch politicians and the special interest groups who hold influence over them are making a last-ditch effort to prevent Missourians from exercising their constitutional right to direct democracy,” lawyer Tori Schafer said.

Martin claimed that the Missouri bill, if passed, would make the state's prohibitions on gender-affirming surgeries for children, genital mutilation, and human cloning null and void.

Possible Fallout

Martin argued that if people had been aware of all the laws that could be repealed, they would not have signed the petition to have the amendment placed on the ballot.

“Why would you hide that you are going to open the frontier of reproductive health care in Missouri if you have the confidence that people are still going to sign the petition?” Martin said.