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Abortion-rights measure will be on Missouri's November ballot, court rules

Abortion-rights measure will be on Missouri's November ballot, court rules
TODAY THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT IS EXPECTED TO WEIGH IN ON WHETHER MISSOURIANS WILL BE ABLE TO VOTE TO RESTORE ABORTION RIGHTS IN NOVEMBER. KMBC NINE MATT EVANS IS LIVE IN JEFFERSON CITY AHEAD OF THE ANTICIPATED DECISION, MATT. KELLY. AND THAT DECISION IS EXPECTED IN A FEW HOURS HERE AT THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT BUILDING ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT MISSOURIANS WILL GET A CHANCE TO VOTE ON ABORTION RIGHTS THIS COMING NOVEMBER. THERE’S INSIDE THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT BUILDING THIS MORNING. THEY’VE KIND OF BEEN COMING AND GOING ALL MORNING LONG. THERE WERE MUCH MORE EARLIER THIS MORNING WHEN BACKERS OF THE AMENDMENT AND SEVERAL PRO-LIFE GROUPS ARGUED OVER A LOWER COURT’S RULING THAT SAID THIS AMENDMENT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ON THE BALLOT BECAUSE IT DID NOT INCLUDE WHICH LAWS MAY BE REPEALED IF IT PASSES. BACKERS OF THAT AMENDMENT, THEY SAY THAT THEY WEREN’T GOING TO REPEAL ANY LAWS. INSTEAD, THIS AMENDMENT WAS MEANT TO SUPERSEDE AND OVERLAP WITH WHAT IS CURRENTLY IN THE MISSOURI CONSTITUTION. ALSO AT ISSUE TODAY IS WHETHER OR NOT THE MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO DECERTIFY AN AMENDMENT AFTER HE’S ALREADY CERTIFIED IT FOR THE BALLOT. SECRETARY OF STATE JAY ASHCROFT MADE THAT MOVE YESTERDAY, AND CITED THAT LOWER COURT’S OPINION. SO THE SUPREME COURT IS EXPECTED TO WEIGH IN ON THAT TODAY AS WELL. ALL OF THIS IS COMING AS THE DEADLINE TO APPROVE AND HAVE BALLOTS READY TO BE PRINTED IN MISSOURI IS NOW JUST FIVE HOURS AWAY AT 5:00. THIS EVENING. AGAIN, WE ARE EXPECTING A DECISION FROM THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT BEFORE THAT HOUR.
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Abortion-rights measure will be on Missouri's November ballot, court rules
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. ___Associated Press reporter David A. Lieb contributed to this report.

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.

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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.

___

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