Current:Home > NewsAbortion-rights measure will be on Missouri’s November ballot, court rules -Momentum Wealth Path
Abortion-rights measure will be on Missouri’s November ballot, court rules
PredictIQ View
Date:2025-04-11 01:51:58
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A measure undoing Missouri’s near-total abortion ban will appear on the ballot in November, the state’s high court ruled Tuesday, marking the latest victory in a nationwide fight to have voters weigh in on abortion laws since federal rights to the procedure ended in 2022.
If passed, the proposal would enshrine abortion rights in the constitution and is expected to broadly supplant the state’s near-total abortion ban. Judges ruled hours before the Tuesday deadline for changes to be made to the November ballot.
Supreme Court judges ordered Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to put the measure back on the ballot. He had removed it Monday following a county circuit judge’s ruling Friday.
The order also directs Ashcroft, an abortion opponent, to “take all steps necessary to ensure that it is on said ballot.”
Secretary of State’s Office spokesman JoDonn Chaney in an email said the Secretary of State’s Office is putting the amendment on the ballot, although Ashcroft in a statement said he’s “disappointed” with the ruling.
The court’s full opinion on the case was not immediately released Tuesday.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign backing the measure, lauded the decision.
“Missourians overwhelmingly support reproductive rights, including access to abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care,” campaign manager Rachel Sweet said in a statement. “Now, they will have the chance to enshrine these protections in the Missouri Constitution on November 5.”
Mary Catherine Martin, a lawyer for a group of GOP lawmakers and abortion opponents suing to remove the amendment, had told Supreme Court judges during rushed Tuesday arguments that the initiative petition “misled voters” by not listing all the laws restricting abortion that it would effectively repeal.
“This Missouri Supreme Court turned a blind eye and ruled Missourians don’t have to be fully informed about the laws their votes may overturn before signing initiative petitions,” the plaintiffs said in a statement after the decision.
Missouri banned almost all abortions immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Eight other states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights, including 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 its impact.
Voting on the polarizing issue could draw more people to the polls, potentially impacting results for the presidency in swing states, control of Congress and the outcomes for closely contested state offices. Missouri Democrats, for instance, hope to get a boost from abortion-rights supporters during the November election.
Legal fights have sprung up across the country over whether to allow voters to decide these questions — and over the exact wording used on the ballots and explanatory material. In August, Arkansas’ highest court upheld a decision to keep an abortion rights initiative off the state’s November ballot, agreeing with election officials that the group behind the measure did not properly submit documentation regarding the signature gatherers it hired.
Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions on their ballots since Roe was overturned have sided with abortion-rights supporters.
___
This story has been corrected to show that eight states outside Missouri will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights, not nine.
___
Associated Press reporter David A. Lieb contributed to this report.
veryGood! (7941)
Related
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Review: Netflix's 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' is a failure in every way
- A hospital is suing to move a quadriplegic 18-year-old to a nursing home. She says no
- How demand and administrative costs are driving up the cost of college
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Rapper Kodak Black freed from jail after drug possession charge was dismissed
- Average long-term US mortgage rose again this week to highest level since mid December
- Guilty plea from the man accused of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl from an upstate New York park
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- How to Watch the 2024 SAG Awards and E!'s Live From E! Red Carpet
Ranking
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- A Progress Report on the IRA Shows Electric Vehicle Adoption Is Going Well. Renewable Energy Deployment, Not So Much
- Normani (finally) announces long-awaited debut solo album 'Dopamine'
- In 'To Kill a Tiger,' a father stands by his assaulted daughter. Oscar, stand by them.
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- China plans to send San Diego Zoo more pandas this year, reigniting its panda diplomacy
- Measles cases rose 79% globally last year, WHO says. Experts explain why.
- United flight diverted to Chicago due to reported bomb threat
Recommendation
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
Motocross Star Jayden “Jayo” Archer Dead at 27
They came to clinics in Mexico for cosmetic surgery and got a deadly fungal meningitis
New Hampshire House rejects allowing voluntary waiver of gun ownership rights
Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
After his wife died, he joined nurses to push for new staffing rules in hospitals.
Apple TV riding Lionel Messi wave with 'significant' viewership ahead of 2024 MLS season
Neuralink transplant patient can control computer mouse 'by just thinking,' Elon Musk says