Current:Home > Contact-usMissouri abortion-rights amendment faces last-minute legal challenges-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Missouri abortion-rights amendment faces last-minute legal challenges
View Date:2024-12-24 22:07:41
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Both sides of the debate over whether to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution have filed last-minute legal challenges hoping to influence how, and if, the proposal goes before voters.
Missouri banned almost all abortions immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In response, a campaign to restore abortion access in the state is pushing a constitutional amendment that would guarantee a right to abortion.
Courts have until Sept. 10 to make changes to the November ballot, Secretary of State’s office spokesperson JoDonn Chaney said.
Facing the impending deadline, two Republican state lawmakers and a prominent anti-abortion leader last week sued to have the amendment thrown out.
Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Mary Catherine Martin, who is representing the plaintiffs, in a statement said Ashcroft’s office should never have allowed the amendment to go on November’s ballot. She said the measure does not inform voters on the range of abortion regulations and laws that will be overturned if the amendment passes.
“It is a scorched earth campaign, razing our state lawbooks of critical protections for vulnerable women and children, the innocent unborn, parents, and any taxpayer who does not want their money to pay for abortion and other extreme decisions that this Amendment defines as ‘care,’” Martin said.
Hearings in the case have not yet been scheduled.
The abortion-rights campaign is also suing Ashcroft over how his office is describing the measure.
“A ‘yes’ vote will enshrine the right to abortion at any time of a pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution,” according to ballot language written by the Secretary of State’s office. “Additionally, it will prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women.”
A lawsuit to rewrite that language argues that the measure allows lawmakers to regulate abortion after fetal viability and allows medical malpractice and wrongful-death lawsuits.
Ashcroft’s language is “intentionally argumentative and is likely to create prejudice against the proposed measure,” attorneys wrote in the petition.
Chaney said the Secretary of State’s office would stand by the measure’s current description and that “the court can review that information, as often happens.”
This is not the first time Ashcroft has clashed with the abortion-rights campaign. Last year, Missouri courts rejected a proposed ballot summary for the amendment that was written by Ashcroft, ruling that his description was politically partisan.
The lawsuit filed by the abortion-rights campaign is set to go to trial Sept. 4.
The Missouri amendment is part of a national push to have voters weigh in on abortion since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Measures to protect access have already qualified to go before voters this year in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Montana, Nevada and South Dakota, as well as Missouri.
Legal fights have sprung up across the country over whether to allow voters to decide these questions — and over the exact words used on the ballots and explanatory material. Earlier this week, Arkansas’ highest court upheld a decision to keep an abortion-rights ballot 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 2022 have sided with abortion-rights supporters.
veryGood! (5878)
Related
- Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms
- 96-year-old newlyweds marry at Kansas senior living community that brought them together
- 'The Voice': Gwen Stefani and John Legend go head-to-head in first battle of Season 24
- Aaron Nola tosses a gem, Phillies crush Diamondbacks to take commanding NLCS lead
- A $1 billion proposal is the latest plan to refurbish and save the iconic Houston Astrodome
- United Airlines plans to board passengers with window seats in economy class first
- Erik Larson’s next book closely tracks the months leading up to the Civil War
- New York governor begins trip in Israel, plans to meet families
- 'Squid Game' creator lost '8 or 9' teeth making Season 1, explains Season 2 twist
- Neymar suffers torn ACL while playing for Brazil in World Cup qualifying game
Ranking
- What are the best financial advising companies? Help USA TODAY rank the top U.S. firms
- Broad rise in wealth has boosted most US households since 2020 and helped sustain economic growth
- Blast reported aboard small cruise ship; crew member taken to hospital
- James Harden skips 76ers practice, coach Nick Nurse unsure of what comes next
- She was found dead while hitchhiking in 1974. An arrest has finally been made.
- Man charged with bringing gun to Wisconsin Capitol arrested again for concealed carry violation
- Nolan Arenado's streak of consecutive Gold Gloves at third base ends
- What is hydrogen energy, and is it a key to fighting climate change?
Recommendation
-
Younghoo Koo takes blame for Falcons loss to Saints: 'This game is fully on me'
-
Mega Millions numbers from Tuesday's drawing: Jackpot reaches $69 million
-
The Masked Singer: You Won't Believe the Sports Legend Revealed as the Royal Hen
-
Mexico says leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras to attend weekend migration summit
-
Patricia Heaton criticizes media, 'extremists' she says 'fear-mongered' in 2024 election
-
Eddie George rips Tennessee State football fans for not supporting winning team: 'It hurts the kids'
-
Marine killed in homicide at Camp Lejeune; second Marine held for suspected involvement
-
CBS News witnesses aftermath of deadly Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza