Ashcroft revokes certification of Missouri abortion amendment

Ashcroft revokes certification of Missouri abortion amendment

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Monday withdrew a ballot proposal that would overturn the state’s abortion ban.

In a letter to Tori Schafer, one of the attorneys for the pro-Amendment 3 group, Ashcroft said: “Upon further review in light of the court’s judgment, I have determined that the petition is deficient. Therefore, this office has decertified the petition for the November 5, 2024, vote.”

Ashcroft declined to comment further through a spokesperson, citing the ongoing litigation in the case.

Participants in the case filed briefs ahead of Tuesday morning’s oral arguments before the Missouri Supreme Court. The court is scheduled to hold a hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh’s ruling to strike Amendment 3 from the ballot.

Limbaugh said the petition was insufficient because it did not specify which state laws it would repeal. But he delayed his ruling until Tuesday, and the Supreme Court said the stay is in effect until it makes a decision.

Under state law, Tuesday is the last day to cancel anything from the Nov. 5 ballot.

Rachel Sweet, campaign director for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which supports the amendment, said in a statement that the case “is before the Missouri Supreme Court, and they have jurisdiction, not Jay Ashcroft.”

“We are confident that the court will order the Secretary of State to keep Amendment 3 on the ballot so that Missourians can vote on November 5 to repeal Missouri’s abortion ban,” Sweet said.

Later Monday afternoon, attorneys from Missourians for Constitutional Freedom a motion was submitted that Ashcroft be found guilty of contempt of court and “ordered to retract his purported ‘dismissal’ of the September 9, 2024, petition.”

“It is no coincidence that this also comes up for a vote just one day before a legal deadline for judicial changes,” the motion said.

Deputy Attorney General Andrew Crane, who represents Ashcroft, wrote in a short Monday that Amendment 3 “cannot escape the constitutional requirements that proponents of other amendments must meet and have met simply because the proposed amendment concerns a highly charged moral issue.”

Other current and recent petitions for a constitutional amendment initiative, including measures to legalize recreational marijuana and sports betting, did not include disclaimers at the top of the petitions stating that the measure could invalidate certain state laws.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, in Jefferson City.

Brian Muñoz

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St. Louis Public Radio

Missouri Supreme Court justices will hold a hearing Tuesday morning that will essentially decide the fate of a measure legalizing abortion.

On Monday, a flurry of court documents came in from both supporters and opponents of Amendment 3.

Lawyers from Missourians for Constitutional Freedom a short summary submitted in which he argued that Limbaugh had misinterpreted a law that requires petitions to contain the “full and correct text,” including “any portion of existing law or of the Constitution which the measure would repeal.”

The lawsuit also argues that Amendment 3 does not explicitly repeal statutes, but rather can provide a basis for judges to declare laws unconstitutional. It added that even if Amendment 3 were to list statutes that could be repealed, there is nothing in the statute “that requires a measure to be held off the ballot because of such weakness.”

Lawyers representing opponents of abortion rights say the lack of a disclaimer While voters are left in the dark about which laws could be repealed, the full impact of the measure remains unclear.

“(Amendment 3) deceived potential signatories by failing to disclose any of the many, many provisions of Missouri law that it proposes to repeal, including the most important one: Missouri’s current ban on abortion,” the report said. “By hiding its profound implications from signatories, (the proposal’s) authors illegally misled Missouri voters.”

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its ruling soon after the morning hearing.