The fate of Missouri's abortion rights amendment will rest in the state Supreme Court's hands on Tuesday after a justice ruled late Friday that the amendment violates state law.
The ruling from Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh was a last-minute surprise and the amendment would have overturned the state's near-total abortion ban, suddenly casting doubt on the future of efforts to expand abortion access in the heavily Republican state.
Abortion is illegal in Missouri, with limited exceptions for the life and health of the mother.
“The court's decision to block Amendment 3 from the ballot is a serious injustice to the initiative process and undermines the rights of the 380,000 Missourians who signed our petition for a say on this important issue,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement after the ruling.
Lawyers for Missouri Constitutional Freedoms appealed, and the case went directly to the state Supreme Court, bypassing the appeals court.
The decision must be made by Tuesday, as that is the deadline for printing ballots to be mailed to absentee voters.
If Amendment 3 passes, abortion would be permitted up until fetal viability, approximately 24 weeks, the point during pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the womb.
Missouri is one of 10 states that could potentially vote on a ballot amendment on abortion rights in November. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade more than two years ago, abortion rights supporters have been successful every time the issue has been on a state ballot.
Missouri was the first state to ban nearly all abortions after the ruling, and passage of the ballot measure would mark the first time such a ban has been overturned.
Limbaugh on Friday sided with anti-abortion lawmakers and activists who sued to remove the amendment from the ballot, arguing that voters who signed petitions about the amendment's effects were not given enough information.
Before being appointed to the Supreme Court, Limbaugh served as general counsel to Republican Governor Mike Parson and is the cousin of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who died in 2021.
He said supporters of the amendment did not list what existing laws would be repealed if the amendment were passed.
The judge found the measure was “insufficient” and a “clear violation” of statutory requirements, but declined to issue an immediate injunction to allow supporters time to appeal before Tuesday's deadline.
In briefs ahead of Tuesday's arguments, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the amendment “would repeal Missouri's abortion ban without making it clear to voters that it would repeal the state's abortion ban.”
They said the petition “misled would-be signers by failing to identify any of the numerous provisions of Missouri law it proposes to repeal.”
They also said the amendment unlawfully contains multiple clauses protecting “an individual's fundamental right of reproductive freedom.”
They argue that if passed, the amendment would have far-reaching effects, repealing virtually all of Missouri's existing restrictions on abortion, cloning, in vitro fertilization for stem cell research and sex-reassignment treatment.
But lawyers for the coalition supporting the bill argued that Limbaugh's ruling was wrong and would interfere with direct democracy.
“The rights of the people take precedence over the opinions of public officials,” they wrote.[Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft] For example, even though he had strong opinions about the merits of the popular initiative now known as Amendment 3, he recognized the will of the people and approved placing Amendment 3 on the November ballot.”
Supporters of the amendment argued that a constitutional amendment cannot “repeal” existing laws, it can only nullify them.
“It is true that some statutes may later be found unconstitutional through constitutional amendment. However, the Third Amendment does not contain any provision that allows statutes to be invalidated without further action by the courts or that allows statutes to be repealed without further action by the General Assembly,” the brief states.
