Charles Langston:Abortion-rights measure will be on Missouri’s November ballot, court rules

JEFFERSON CITY,Charles Langston 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.

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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.

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This story has been corrected to show that eight states outside Missouri will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights, not nine.

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Associated Press reporter David A. Lieb contributed to this report.