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Some Republicans think placing abortion legalization initiatives on the August 2024 ballot could deprive Democrats of a turnout boost, compared to November. But if it's in the August election, the abortion rights measures may need a lower threshold to pass.
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A new lawsuit from the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund contends that the way Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft summarized six abortion rights initiatives “are intentionally argumentative, insufficient, and unfair.”
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The Secretary of State is appealing a Sept. 25 ruling striking down the ballot language he wrote for six proposed constitutional amendments on abortion. A Cole County judge ruled that Ashcroft's summary was argumentative and biased.
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Missouri has one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S. Abortion rights advocates hope to put forward a ballot initiative next year to take the issue directly to voters.
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A judge heard arguments over a series of proposed amendments to Missouri's constitution seeking to legalize abortion, this time over the ballot language proposed by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. The ACLU argued that Ashcroft's summary was biased against the amendments, like a "referee playing for one of the teams."
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The litigation asks a Cole County judge to reject the proposed constitutional amendments or rewrite the summary and fiscal note.
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As pro-choice advocates push for more reproductive rights, Republicans in Missouri and Ohio are undertaking attempts to thwart those efforts.
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The lawsuit from Republican lawmakers uses an argument from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey that legalizing abortion will cost the state billions of dollars. State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick concluded that reasoning has no merit, and the state supreme court rejected Bailey's attempt to interfere with the cost estimate.
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Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote in the official ballot language for a proposed abortion rights amendment that it would “allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions." The ACLU sued, saying that the description was "misleading" and unfairly biased against the initiative.
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The unanimous verdict was scathing in its assessment of Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who refused to sign off on the work of Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. The court concluded that nothing in state law “gives the attorney general authority to question the auditor’s assessment of the fiscal impact of a proposed petition.”
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The attorney general's office refused to sign off on a proposed amendment that would add abortion rights to the Missouri constitution. Although the state auditor's fiscal note estimated minimal cost to the state, Andrew Bailey demanded that the auditor inaccurately increase the estimate by billions of dollars.
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Missouri was the first state to pass a near-total abortion ban after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But advocates also say the decision has had spillover effects, sowing confusion over the legality of contraception and concern over doctors’ discretion to provide emergency care.