Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft actively participated in the Midwest March for Life on May 1 at the Missouri State Capitol. Expressing his strong belief, Ashcroft stated that the collective efforts of the people of this state can ensure the protection of all life, regardless of the legislative actions taken (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).
The organizers of the abortion-rights amendment on Missouri’s November ballot have recently filed a lawsuit, claiming that the “fair ballot language” provided by the secretary of state’s office is intentionally argumentative and designed to confuse voters.
Missouri’s Amendment 3 presents voters with the question of legalizing abortion until fetal viability. Currently, abortion is prohibited in Missouri, with only a few exceptions for maternal life and health since June 2022.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft recently certified the measure for the ballot. In conjunction with this, the office also released the fair ballot language statement for the amendment. This statement is intended to be displayed at each polling place alongside the sample ballot.
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According to the secretary of state’s website, the current language states that a “yes” vote will establish the right to abortion throughout all stages of pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution. Furthermore, it will prohibit any form of regulation on abortion, including regulations aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of women undergoing the procedure. It will also prevent any legal action against individuals who perform abortions and inadvertently harm or cause the death of pregnant women.
According to a statement from Rachel Sweet, campaign manager with Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, these politicians are well aware that Amendment 3 has strong support from Missouri voters. However, they choose to employ deceptive and misleading tactics.
Dr. Anna Fitz-James, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, criticized Ashcroft’s language as unfair, insufficient, inaccurate, misleading, argumentative, and prejudicial.
In March 2023, Fitz-James, a retired physician residing in Missouri, initiated the abortion rights initiative petition. He acted on behalf of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign responsible for the ballot measure that has garnered significant financial support, raising several million dollars this year.
According to a lawsuit filed in Cole County, Missourians are demanding fair, accurate, and sufficient language to make an informed decision on the Amendment. The lawsuit, which was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, argues against the Secretary of State’s dissemination of misleading information.
Ashcroft, an outspoken critic of abortion, recently secured the third position in the GOP primary for governor.
Ashcroft expressed his dismay at the attempt by certain groups to manipulate the truth through the legal system in order to advance their own political motives. In response to the lawsuit, which also alleges that he is promoting a political agenda, he emphasized his commitment to defending the rights of Missourians to have transparent and comprehensible ballot language when making crucial decisions regarding matters as significant as the sanctity of life.
The abortion rights campaign has requested the court to issue revised and unbiased ballot language and to instruct Ashcroft to remove the existing language from the government website. A specific court date has not yet been scheduled.
The campaign has sued Ashcroft over the ballot measure before, making this not the first time.
The initial draft of the ballot summary would have posed the question to Missourians whether they supported “allowing for abortions without regulation or restriction, from conception until live birth.”
In September, a judge in Missouri declared that Ashcroft’s language was “problematic” and inaccurate.
Ashcroft filed an appeal against the ruling, but the Missouri Supreme Court denied to review the case.
The approved ballot language in Missouri will pose the question to voters: Do you want to:
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- establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid;
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- remove Missouri’s ban on abortion;
- allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient;
- require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and
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- allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?