A majority of the seven-member court ruled that the measure should stay on the ballot.
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday was weighing whether a question to overturn the state’s abortion ban will remain on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The seven judges heard arguments Tuesday morning, hours before the 5 p.m. deadline to add or remove measures from the upcoming ballot. The arguments lasted less than an hour and the court made no ruling from the bench.
They followed a Cole County judge’s decision Friday siding with four anti-abortion activists who sought the measure’s removal. Limbaugh said the petition didn’t meet state law requiring disclosure of statutes and constitutional provisions to be repealed if voters adopt Amendment 3.
Chuck Hatfield, attorney for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said that the Missouri Constitution reserves for the people the right to propose amendments to the constitution independent of the General Assembly.Â
People are also reading…
“The question is whether the court system is going to honor the will of the people, their reservation of that power, or whether we’re going to allow a small group of people to take that power over an issue of form,â€Â Hatfield said.
But Mary Catherine Martin, attorney for the four plaintiffs, said the petition didn’t meet legal requirements to be on the ballot.
“These requirements protect voters,†Martin said. “They require them to be fully informed.â€
Attorneys for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom have argued the petition wouldn’t repeal any laws and that the courts would determine what is overturned.
The hearing Tuesday came after Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Monday said he had “decertified†the question for the ballot in light of Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh’s Friday ruling against the measure.
Limbaugh stayed removal of the ballot measure until a higher court could review the case. The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an order keeping Limbaugh’s stay in effect “until further order of this court.â€
Hatfield on Tuesday argued Ashcroft should be held in contempt of court for violating its order.
He said the judges would decide whether the measure appears on the ballot. But Ashcroft, “just decertified it,†Hatfield said. “It’s open contempt for your authority.â€
Joshua Divine, an attorney representing Ashcroft, said case law allowed Ashcroft to decertify Amendment 3 for the ballot.
The move was no different than if Ashcroft had decertified the question last Thursday before the Cole County trial, Divine said.
In Limbaugh’s Friday ruling, he cited a state law requiring campaigns to attach the full text of a proposal to an initiative petition and that the text include “all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.â€
He said there were clear contradictions between current law and what would be repealed, including the present abortion ban and the possible protections for abortion rights.
Limbaugh said the campaign “purposefully decided not to include even the most basic of statutes†that the amendment would repeal, at least in part.
But Hatfield, in a motion to stay Limbaugh’s ruling, argued passage of Amendment 3 wouldn’t immediately result in the repeal of any law, saying the statute will remain in effect until a court adjudicates the future dispute.
Even if a court does overturn a law, it won’t be “repealed,†Hatfield said. The law would remain on the books but wouldn’t have any effect, he said.
“The Trial Court conflated the term repeal with the concept of nullification,â€Â the brief said.
In a brief for abortion opponents, Martin, of the conservative Thomas More Society said the public interest “overwhelmingly opposes†staying Limbaugh’s decision.
Issuing a stay would keep the question before voters and sow confusion, the brief said.
“The public interest strongly favors a swift decision on the merits, before the ballots are finalized,†she said.
The Supreme Court’s livestream of the hearing encountered technical issues, with some users experiencing continuous lag and others unable to load the video at all.
Updated at 10:49 a.m.