On Nov. 7, voters in Ohio passed an amendment to protect the right to an abortion. Now, reproductive rights advocates in Missouri are wondering if the Show Me State could be next.
A series of competing abortion legalization measures have been filed with the secretary of state's office. One slate of initiatives aims to legalize abortion from the first 24 weeks of pregnancy to having no gestational limit at all, while another slate is focused on smaller steps like making exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.
Jason Rosenbaum of St. Louis Public Radio said the question of whether Missouri will ultimately mirror Ohio depends on what happens in the next few months.
"Both of these slates of initiatives are kind of mired in this legal turmoil about how they're described," he explained. "Both these groups have until May to turn in around 171,000 signatures. So, I think that's kind of the reason for the uncertainty."
- Jason Rosenbaum, politics correspondent at St. Louis Public Radio
- Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri
