Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

As Missouri awaits Supreme Court abortion ruling, Ashcroft draws ire for decertifying measure

Hundreds of people march through St. Louis on Friday, June 24, 2022, to protest a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which largely deals with abortion care.
Brian Munoz
/
St. Louis Public Radio
Hundreds of people march through St. Louis on Friday, June 24, 2022, to protest a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which largely deals with abortion care.

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case Tuesday, but on Monday, Ashcroft decided to decertify the ballot amendment based on a lower court ruling Friday.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft decertified a ballot item Monday that would reverse the state’s ban on abortion.

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

Through a spokesman, Ashcroft declined further comment, citing the continued litigation in the case.

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

Limbaugh said the petition was insufficient because it didn’t specify which state laws it would repeal. But he stayed his ruling until Tuesday, and the Supreme Court said the stay is in place until it makes a decision.

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

Rachel Sweet, the campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which is backing 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 the court will order the Secretary of State to keep Amendment 3 on the ballot so that Missourians can vote to end Missouri’s abortion ban on November 5,” Sweet said.

Later on Monday afternoon, attorneys for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom filed a motion for Ashcroft to be held in contempt and “ordering him to rescind his purported September 9, 2024 'rejection' of the Initiative Petition.”

“It is no coincidence that this also comes on the day before a statutory deadline for judicial amendments to the ballot,” the motion states.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Crane, who is representing Ashcroft, wrote in a brief on Monday that Amendment 3 “cannot evade constitutional requirements that advocates of other amendments must and have satisfied simply because the proposed amendment concerns a highly charged moral topic.”

Other pending and recent constitutional amendment initiative petitions, including measures legalizing recreational marijuana and sports betting, didn’t have disclaimers on the top of petitions saying that the measure could invalidate certain state statutes.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Jefferson City.
Brian Munoz
/
St. Louis Public Radio
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Jefferson City.

Monday brought about a flurry of court filings from both proponents and opponents of Amendment 3.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom attorneys submitted a brief stating that Limbaugh incorrectly interpreted a statute that says petitions must have the “full and correct text,” including “all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.”

The brief also contends that Amendment 3 does not explicitly repeal statues, but rather could potentially provide a foundation for judges to rule laws unconstitutional. It added even if Amendment 3 needed to list statutes that could be repealed, nothing in the law “specifies that a measure must be kept from the ballot as a result of such infirmity.”

Attorneys representing abortion rights opponents say the lack of a disclaimer about which laws it could repeal keeps voters in the dark about the measure’s full impact.

“[Amendment 3] defrauded potential signers by failing to disclose any of the many, many provisions of Missouri law it proposes to repeal, even its headliner: Missouri’s current ban on abortion,” the brief states. “By hiding its profound effects from signers, the drafters of [the proposal] illegally misled Missouri voters.”

The Supreme Court is expected to rule quickly after the morning hearing.
Copyright 2024 St. Louis Public Radio

Since entering the world of professional journalism in 2006, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than four years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon. Since moving to St. Louis in 2010, Rosenbaum's work appeared in Missouri Lawyers Media, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Riverfront Times' music section. He also served on staff at the St. Louis Beacon as a politics reporter. Rosenbaum lives in Richmond Heights with with his wife Lauren and their two sons.