Missouri Supreme Court puts abortion question back on November ballot

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Supreme Court has overturned a lower court decision that would have removed a question on legalizing abortion from the November ballot.

The court heard arguments Tuesday morning and Chief Justice Mary Russell issued a decision a little after 2 p.m. Tuesday. The judges voted by majority to reverse Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh's decision, issued last week.

The court ordered Tuesday that the question should appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Amendment 3 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. If passed, the amendment would guarantee a right to an abortion until fetal viability.

In the courtroom, attorney in favor of keeping Amendment 3 on the ballot, Chuck Hatfield, said the conversation surrounding the amendment should not be happening now.

“They can go out and have that debate and discussion, but the time and the place to talk about whether amendment three is a good idea is in November and the campaign leading up to November," said Hatfield.

On the other side, Missouri Sen. and anti-abortion activist Mary Elizabeth Coleman said her attorney argued the initiative petition was unconstitutional because it did not have all the requirements needed for a valid petition.

"They did not argue the law, they argued a motion, they argued momentum, they argued investment and that is not the law and if he wants to invalidate or turn over statutes, I encourage him to run for the state Senate," said Coleman.

Tori Schafer, with the ACLU, called Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling a victory for democracy.

“Let us be very clear. Today's decision is a victory not only for reproductive freedom but also for direct democracy in Missouri," said Shafer. "The Missouri Supreme Court's ruling ensures that amendment three, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, will appear on the November ballot, giving voters, not politicians, the power to decide on this critical issue.”

Rachel Sweet, with Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the group that led the petition drive to get the question on the ballot, said in a statement the decision is a "victory for democracy and reproductive freedom in Missouri."

“This ruling is a validation of the more than 380,000 Missourians who signed the petition," the statement says. "This fight was not just about this amendment—it was about defending the integrity of the initiative petition process and ensuring that Missourians can shape their future directly.

The Missouri Republican Party called the decision "devastating."

"This ruling marks the most dangerous threat to Missouri's pro-life laws in our state's history," the party says in a statement. "Make no mistake -- this amendment, bankrolled by radical out-of-state interest groups, is a direct assault on Missouri families and the values we hold dear."

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, Secretary of State Jay 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.