JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Efforts to restore abortion rights in Missouri through a vote of the people in 2024 hit another legal logjam Wednesday, this time as part of a disagreement with Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.
In a Cole County courtroom, attorneys for the Republican candidate for governor faced off against the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, which is suing Ashcroft as it attempts to get the abortion rights measure on the ballot.
The ACLU is accusing Ashcroft of writing a misleading summary of their proposed ballot question.
But Assistant Attorney General Jason Lewis, who is representing Ashcroft, said the ACLU鈥檚 legal action was premature by one day based on the process in place to challenge ballot language.
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Lewis said the ACLU 鈥渏umped the gun鈥 and should wait until Thursday to file a challenge to Ashcroft鈥檚 summary.
The argument was backed by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem, who set an Aug. 3 hearing to lay out when the refiled case may go to trial.
鈥淲e applaud the court for dismissing these frivolous lawsuits that were filed prior to the initiative petition language being certified by my office,鈥 Ashcroft said in a statement.
The exchange marked the latest litigation in the battle to get a question before voters designed to restore abortion rights after the procedure was banned last year following the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The ACLU won a lawsuit last week against Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who contested the state auditor鈥檚 cost projection of the measure.
In both cases, the roadblocks erected by the Republican statewide officeholders have gobbled up valuable time for supporters of the ballot question to collect the required number of signatures from voters to put the initiative on the ballot.
The process should have been completed in May, attorneys for the ACLU said.
Democrats are decrying the stall tactics.
鈥淚f they think they鈥檙e on the winning side of this issue, why are they so afraid of letting Missourians vote?鈥 said Rep. Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City.
Under state law, ballot questions go through a step-by-step process before they can be certified. Along with sign-offs from the state auditor and the attorney general, the secretary of state must write a summary of the proposal.
In his contested summary, Ashcroft has submitted language that asks voters whether to allow for 鈥渄angerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth, without requiring a medical license or potentially being subject to medical malpractice.鈥
His wording also says the proposal would nullify 鈥渓ongstanding Missouri law protecting the right to life, including but not limited to partial-birth abortion.鈥
And he said the question would allow for laws to be enacted regulating abortion procedures 鈥渁fter 24 weeks, while guaranteeing the right of any woman, including a minor, to end the life of their unborn child at any time.鈥
The ACLU says the wording is inflammatory. The anti-abortion lobbying group Missouri Right to Life, which is backing Ashcroft in the Republican gubernatorial primary, sent representatives to observe Wednesday鈥檚 hearing.
In the case involving Bailey鈥檚 flawed cost estimate, the Supreme Court noted that the Republican stall tactics were depriving voters of their right to change the Constitution via a vote.
The high court wrote that for more than 40 years the process has been 鈥渓iberally construed鈥 to favor voters rights rather than technical roadblocks erected by public officials.