Current:Home > MarketsMissouri judge says abortion-rights measure summary penned by GOP official is misleading-LoTradeCoin
Missouri judge says abortion-rights measure summary penned by GOP official is misleading
View Date:2024-12-23 20:45:57
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge ruled Thursday that an anti-abortion GOP official used misleading language to summarize a ballot question designed to restore abortion rights in the state.
Cole County Circuit Judge Cotton Walker threw out a description of the amendment as written by the office of Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, an abortion opponent.
In his ruling, Walker said Ashcroft’s language was “unfair, insufficient, inaccurate and misleading.”
Walker wrote a new summary explaining to voters that the measure would remove Missouri’s abortion ban and allow abortion to be restricted or banned after fetal viability, with exceptions.
Missouri banned almost all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Walker’s language also notes that the amendment would create a “constitutional right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives.”
At least nine other states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights this fall — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota.
In Missouri, ballot language is displayed at polling centers to help voters understand the impact of voting “yes” or “no” on sometimes complicated ballot measures.
The summary that Ashcroft wrote said a “yes” vote on the proposal would enshrine “the right to abortion at any time of a pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution.”
“Additionally, it will prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women,” according to Ashcroft’s language.
Ashcroft spokesperson JoDonn Chaney said the office is reviewing the judge’s decision.
“Secretary Ashcroft will always stand for life and for the people of Missouri to know the truth,” Chaney said.
The amendment itself states that “the government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.”
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Crane defended Ashcroft’s summary in court. He pointed to a clause in the amendment protecting “any person” from prosecution or penalties if they consensually assist a person exercising their right to reproductive freedom. Crane said if enacted, that provision would render any abortion regulations toothless.
Backers of the measure celebrated Walker’s decision.
“This ruling confirms what we’ve known all along — our opponents are trying to block a vote in November because they know Missourians overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom and will be voting yes on Amendment 3,” Rachel Sweet, the campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement Thursday. “Missourians deserve the chance to vote on Amendment 3 based on facts and today’s decision brings us one step closer to making that a reality.”
Lawyers for the woman who proposed the amendment wrote in legal briefs that Ashcroft’s description is misleading and that lawmakers could regulate abortions after viability.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Today’s news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP.
- Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
“Missourians are entitled to fair, accurate, and sufficient language that will allow them to cast an informed vote for or against the Amendment without being subjected to the Secretary of State’s disinformation,” according to a brief filed by the plaintiff.
This is the second time Ashcroft and the abortion-rights campaign have clashed over his official descriptions of the amendment.
The campaign in 2023 also sued Ashcroft over how his office described the amendment in a ballot summary. Ballot summaries are high-level overviews of amendments, similar to ballot language. But summaries are included on ballots.
Ashcroft’s ballot summary said the measure would allow “dangerous and unregulated abortions until live birth.”
A three-judge panel of the Western District Court of Appeals ruled Ashcroft’s summary was politically partisan and rewrote it. Much of Walker’s ballot language is based on the Court of Appeals summary.
veryGood! (51494)
Related
- New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage
- Tensions are high in Europe amid anger over Israel-Hamas war
- Lionel Messi's first MLS season ends quietly as Inter Miami loses 1-0 to Charlotte FC
- Lionel Messi's first MLS season ends quietly as Inter Miami loses 1-0 to Charlotte FC
- South Carolina lab recaptures 5 more escaped monkeys but 13 are still loose
- Central America scrambles as the international community fails to find solution to record migration
- Scholastic criticized for optional diverse book section
- NASCAR Homestead-Miami playoff race 2023: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup for 4EVER 400
- Demure? Brain rot? Oxford announces shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year: Cast your vote
- Should USC and Ohio State be worried? Bold predictions for Week 8 in college football
Ranking
- Ben Affleck and His Son Samuel, 12, Enjoy a Rare Night Out Together
- College football Week 8 highlights: Catch up on all the scores, best plays and biggest wins
- Keep Your Summer Glow and Save 54% On St. Tropez Express Self-Tanning Mousse
- At Cairo summit, even Arab leaders at peace with Israel expressed growing anger over the Gaza war
- Military veteran gets time served for making ricin out of ‘curiosity’
- 'Wait Wait' for October 21, 2023: Live from Connecticut with James Patterson!
- Tanker truck carrying jet fuel strikes 2 cars on Pennsylvania Turnpike, killing 2, injuring 1
- French pilot dies after 1,000-foot fall from Mount Whitney during LA stopover
Recommendation
-
Solawave Black Friday Sale: Don't Miss Buy 1, Get 1 Free on Age-Defying Red Light Devices
-
Pakistan’s thrice-elected, self-exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns home ahead of vote
-
This $7 Leave-In Conditioner Gives Me Better Results Than Luxury Haircare Brands
-
GOP House panel raises questions about $200K check from James Biden to Joe Biden. Biden spokesman says there's zero evidence of wrongdoing.
-
NFL overreactions: New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys going nowhere after Week 10
-
Tanker truck carrying jet fuel strikes 2 cars on Pennsylvania Turnpike, killing 2, injuring 1
-
Vanna White Shares Rare Photo With Boyfriend John Donaldson
-
Fab Morvan Reveals His Only Regret 33 Years After Milli Vanilli's Shocking Lip-Syncing Scandal