Missouri Supreme Court expected to make final decision regarding abortion access on the November ballot

JEFFERSON, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Supreme Court to make a final decision regarding abortion access on the November ballot Tuesday.

The State Supreme Court will hear arguments after abortions rights advocates filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State's Office regarding the wording on the ballot, calling it argumentative and confusing for voters.

Amendment 3, which covers abortion, was certified by the Secretary of State's Office after thousands of petition signatures. The initiative petition that was used to get access to abortion on the ballot received over 380,000 signatures.

Columbia Mayor, Barbara Buffaloe and the mayors of Kansas City and St. Louis wrote to the court asking that the judges allow Amendment 3 to be on the ballot. The mayors submitted a 12-page amicus brief on Monday requesting that the Missouri Supreme Court allow voters an opportunity to vote on Amendment 3. The amicus brief argues that the nearly 2 million Missourians those cities represent are being denied their constitutional rights to a free and fair election. 

On Friday, Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that the petition didn’t meet the legal requirements to appear on the November ballot. Limbaugh ruled that the leaders of the abortion rights campaign failed to include statutes that would be repealed if the amendment is passed in November. The state’s high court will hear an appeal on Tuesday, the same day the deadline to have the petition removed falls. 

Following Limbaugh’s ruling, Ashcroft -- who is against abortion access in the state -- decertified the ballot measure. On Monday Amendment 3 was removed from the ballot measures that appear on the Secretary of State’s website.