{"id":2339674,"date":"2024-09-11T11:23:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T15:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mo-supreme-court-greenlights-deceptive-abortion-amendment\/"},"modified":"2024-09-11T11:29:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T15:29:25","slug":"mo-supreme-court-greenlights-deceptive-abortion-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mo-supreme-court-greenlights-deceptive-abortion-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"MO Supreme Court Greenlights Deceptive Abortion Amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmo-supreme-court-greenlights-deceptive-abortion-amendment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2339674&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Missouri\u200b Supreme Court has ruled that a proposed amendment\u200b to legalize abortion throughout all nine months of\u2063 pregnancy can remain on the ballot \u200dfor the \u200dupcoming November 2024 election. This decision reverses a prior ruling by \u2064Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher \u2062Limbaugh, who stated that the petition did\u2062 not\u200b adhere to \u2063Missouri&#8217;s \u200clegal requirements regarding Disclaimers. The court&#8217;s ruling mandates that Missouri&#8217;s \u200dSecretary of State, John\u200d R. Ashcroft, certify \u2064the amendment for\u2062 the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2062proposed Amendment 3 aims\u2062 to establish a constitutional \u200b&#8221;right to\u200b reproductive freedom&#8221; in Missouri, where abortions are currently \u2064restricted. The \u200bamendment&#8217;s vague language may \u200dimpede \u2064legislative efforts to\u2064 protect\u2063 women \u200cand unborn babies, and could lead \u200bto\u2064 legal challenges focused \u2063on parental consent and abortion reporting laws. \u2064Judge Limbaugh noted the amendment&#8217;s failure to clarify which existing laws it would\u2063 repeal, emphasizing that voters should \u200dbe informed about the implications of such measures. Despite these concerns, the state supreme court has chosen to allow the amendment to \u2063proceed to the \u2062ballot. Mary Catherine Martin from the Thomas \u200dMore Society, representing\u200c the amendment&#8217;s challengers, criticized the court&#8217;s decision as enabling a radical abortion \u2064proposal.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Missouri Supreme Court declined demands that it &ldquo;follow the law&rdquo; when it <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.website-files.com\/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46\/66e0a132e3f816ec4c4fbde6_SC100742%20-Coleman%20v.%20Ashcroft%20%20%209-10-24_FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> on Tuesday that a proposed amendment hoping to legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy could stay on the November ballot despite questions about its constitutionality. <\/p>\n<p>The high bench&rsquo;s decision reverses a ruling from Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh, who <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/09\/missouris-radical-abortion-amendment-could-be-yanked-from-ballot-after-judge-rules-it-invalid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found last week<\/a> that the petition to put abortion through birth in front of voters did not meet the Disclaimer mandates outlined by <a href=\"https:\/\/revisor.mo.gov\/main\/OneSection.aspx?section=116.050#:~:text=116.050.,pages%20of%20a%20uniform%20size.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Missouri law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;By a majority vote of this Court, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-keep-az-from-requiring-proof-of-citizenship-in-november\/\" title=\"DOJ: Keep AZ From Requiring Proof Of Citizenship In November\">circuit court&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s judgment is reversed. Respondent John R. Ashcroft shall certify to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/one-of-the-strongest-election-laws-in-the-country-missouri-gov-reforms-election-laws-banning-mail-in-ballots-requiring-voter-id\/\" title=\"\u201cOne Of The Strongest Election Laws In The Country\u201d: Missouri Gov. Reforms Election Laws Banning Mail-In Ballots, Requiring Voter ID\">local election authorities<\/a> that Amendment 3 be placed on the November 5, 2024, general election ballot and shall take all steps necessary to ensure that it is on said ballot,&rdquo; the court&rsquo;s ruling said.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.mo.gov\/CMSImages\/Elections\/Petitions\/2024-086.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed amendment<\/a> seeks to permanently permit abortion in the Show-Me State, which currently bars abortions &ldquo;except in cases of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/revisor.mo.gov\/main\/OneSection.aspx?section=188.017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">medical emergency<\/a>,&rdquo; by adding a &ldquo;right to reproductive freedom&rdquo; to the state constitution. <\/p>\n<p>The ballot measure&rsquo;s deliberately vague language not only promises that anyone will &ldquo;make and carry out decisions about all matters&rdquo; concerning &ldquo;reproductive healthcare,&rdquo; but also would prohibit legislators from enacting or enforcing protections for women and unborn babies. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amendment-4-activists-show-girls-how-to-skirt-parental-consent\/\" title=\"Amendment 4 Activists Show Girls How To Skirt Parental Consent\">abortion activists responsible<\/a> for coordinating the wave of ballot measure battles in red states like Missouri often&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sbaprolife.org\/newsroom\/press-releases\/aclu-sues-to-remove-informed-consent-in-ohio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pursue legal challenges<\/a>&nbsp;that capitalize on the undefined language in these amendments to specifically target parental consent and abortion reporting laws.<\/p>\n<p>Limbaugh agreed with the pro-life legislators and Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who filed the challenge, that &ldquo;Missourians have a constitutional right to know what laws their votes would overturn before deciding to sign initiative petitions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The full and correct text failed to identify any &lsquo;sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure,&rsquo;&rdquo; Limbaugh&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2024\/09\/06\/missouri-judge-rules-abortion-amendment-vioalates-state-requirements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The state supreme court, however, ignored concerns that Amendment 3 violates the state constitution and statutes and demanded the sweeping amendment be printed on ballots for the upcoming election.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Mary Catherine Martin, who represented the Amendment 3 challengers in court, said allowing the radical abortion proposal to make it to the election is &ldquo;a failure to protect voters, by not upholding state laws that ensure voters are fully informed going into the ballot box.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is deeply unfortunate the court decided to ignore laws that protect voters in order to satisfy pro-abortion activists who intentionally omitted critical information from the initiative petition,&rdquo; she said in a statement. &ldquo;This ruling takes away important protections from all Missouri citizens to serve the well-funded political goals of a few.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Much like the nearly dozen other abortion ballot initiatives plaguing states this fall, Missouri&rsquo;s Amendment 3, Martin warned, &ldquo;will have far-reaching implications on the state&rsquo;s abortion laws and well beyond&rdquo; that &ldquo;the initiative campaign intentionally hid from voters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We implore Missourians to research and study the text and effects of Amendment 3 before going to the voting booth,&rdquo; she concluded. <\/p>\n<p>Republican Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri&rsquo;s fourth congressional district agreed that &ldquo;the Progressive Democrat tricksters pushing this measure completely misled the public about the real truth of Amendment 3 and the staggering scope of laws it would invalidate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We cannot allow organizations to mislead voters like this, and today&rsquo;s decision allowing Amendment 3 to remain on the ballot is a profound disappointment,&rdquo; he said in a statement. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a loss for our Constitution, a loss for the people of Missouri, and a loss for Life.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Missouri Supreme Court rejected calls to &#8220;follow the law&#8221; in its ruling on Tuesday, allowing a proposed amendment aimed at legalizing abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy to remain on the November ballot, despite concerns regarding its constitutionality. This decision overturns a previous ruling by Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh, who determined last week that the petition for placing abortion access before voters did not comply with Missouri&#8217;s legal Disclaimer requirements. <\/p>\n<p>In their ruling, the court stated, \u201cBy a majority vote of this Court, the circuit court\u2019s judgment is reversed. Respondent John R. Ashcroft shall certify to local election authorities that Amendment 3 be placed on the November 5, 2024 general election ballot and shall take all steps necessary to ensure that it is on said ballot.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The proposed amendment aims to permanently allow abortion in Missouri, which currently restricts abortions &#8220;except in cases of medical emergency,&#8221; by adding a &#8220;right to reproductive freedom&#8221; into the state constitution. The language of this ballot measure is notably vague; it asserts that individuals will have autonomy over all decisions related to &#8220;reproductive healthcare,&#8221; while also preventing lawmakers from implementing or enforcing protections for women and unborn children.<\/p>\n<p>Abortion advocates behind these types of measures in conservative states like Missouri often engage in legal challenges that exploit ambiguous language within these amendments specifically targeting parental consent and reporting laws related to abortion. Limbaugh sided with pro-life legislators and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft\u2014who initiated the challenge\u2014arguing that \u201cMissourians have a constitutional right to know what laws their votes would overturn before deciding to sign initiative petitions.\u201d He noted that \u201cthe full and correct text failed to identify any \u2018sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the state supreme court dismissed concerns about Amendment 3 potentially violating state constitutional provisions and statutes while insisting it be included on ballots for upcoming elections. Mary Catherine Martin from Thomas More Society expressed disappointment over this decision as it undermines voter protection by neglecting state laws designed to keep voters informed prior to casting their votes.<\/p>\n<p>Martin criticized how critical information was omitted from the initiative petition by pro-abortion activists: \u201cThis ruling takes away important protections from all Missouri citizens&#8230; We implore Missourians to research and study Amendment 3 before going into voting booths,\u201d she urged.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Rep. Mark Alford echoed her sentiments regarding public deception surrounding Amendment 3: \u201cWe cannot allow organizations like this mislead voters&#8230; Today\u2019s decision allowing Amendment 3 on ballots is profoundly disappointing; it&#8217;s a loss for our Constitution and for Life,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan Boyd serves as a staff writer at The Federalist and produces The Federalist Radio Hour; her work has appeared in various media outlets including The Daily Wire and Fox News. She holds a degree in political science with a minor in journalism from Baylor University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":2339675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/DSCF0369-scaled-e1726064746617.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32868,33211,40636,33630],"class_list":["post-2339674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abortion-rights","tag-legal-news","tag-mo-supreme-court","tag-supreme-court-ruling"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/DSCF0369-scaled-e1726064746617.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}