Missouri Supreme Court will allow abortion amendment on the ballot

Voters in Missouri will be able to vote on an amendment to protect abortion access, after the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s ruling Tuesday that would have removed it from the ballot. 

The decision came just hours before the state’s absentee ballots are set to be printed.

The justices ordered Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) to recertify the measure, after he abruptly decertified it Monday, despite the deadline for such action already having passed. 

Proponents of the measure wanted Ashcroft held in contempt, but the court declined. 

“Today’s decision is a victory for both direct democracy and reproductive freedom in Missouri,” said Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the coalition backing the measure. 

“This ruling is a validation of the more than 380,000 Missourians who signed the petition. 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 amendment would permit abortion until fetal viability, at about 24 weeks, the point in a pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the womb.   

Missouri is one of 10 states that could potentially vote on abortion rights ballot amendments in November. Abortion rights supporters have succeeded every time the issue has been on a state ballot since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade more than two years ago. 

Missouri was the first state to ban almost all abortions after the ruling, and passage of the ballot measure would be the first time such a ban would be overturned.