This is a developing story and will be updated
Missouri voters will decide in November if they want to legalize abortion in the state.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office announced Tuesday that a proposed constitutional amendment ending Missouri’s abortion ban gathered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
Through the initiative, abortion would be legal in Missouri in the state’s constitution up to the point of fetal viability.
Currently, all abortions are illegal in the state, unless it is to save the mother. There are no exceptions for rape and incest.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom turned in more than double the roughly 171,000 signatures needed in May.
The petition faced multiple lawsuits that ultimately shortened the length of time the organization had to collect signatures.
One of the suits was over the amendment’s fiscal note, where the auditor and secretary of state’s office disagreed over who had the authority to finalize the note which details the cost.
Another dealt with the ballot language initially written by Ashcroft.
The Missouri Western Court of Appeals ruled that Ashcroft’s summaries contained politically partisan language. The court also upheld, with few changes, a revised summary written by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem.
Ashcroft’s office also announced that a petition that would legalize sports betting through a constitutional amendment and a proposed statute change raising the minimum wage from $12.30 to $13.75 in 2025 and $15 in 2026 also garnered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
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