JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri – Missouri voters may have a choice this fall between a continued ban on abortion and a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to abortion until later in a woman’s pregnancy.
The secretary of state’s office faced a Tuesday deadline to determine whether an abortion rights initiative had received enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot. If so, the approval of a majority of voters would be needed to effectively reverse the state’s current restrictions.
Supporters of the initiative expressed confidence that the measure will be voted on after submission more than double the number needed of signatures.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is also determining whether there are enough signatures to hold the November election on initiatives that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, legalize sports betting and authorize a casino in the popular tourist destination of Lake Ozarks.
Missouri would join at least half a dozen states vote on abortion rights during the presidential elections. Certified Arizona Secretary of State an abortion rights measure up for vote on Monday. The measures will also go before voters in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. While it does not explicitly address abortion rights, a ballot measure in New York bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” among other things.
The US Supreme Court overturned a national right to abortion in 2022, triggering a statewide battle in legislatures and a new push to let voters decide the issue. Since the ruling, most Republican-controlled states have new restrictions on abortion in effect, while most Democratic-led states have measures protecting abortion access.
Abortion rights advocates prevailed in all seven states that have decided ballot measures since 2022: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont.
The high court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade triggered a Missouri law in 2019 come into force banning abortion “except in cases of medical emergency.” This law makes it a crime punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison to perform or induce an abortion, although a woman who has an abortion cannot be prosecuted.
Since then, almost no abortions have occurred in Missouri. But that doesn’t mean Missouri residents don’t get abortions. They can still travel to out-of-state abortion clinics, including those across the border in Illinois and Kansas.
THE Missouri ballot measure would create a right to abortion until a fetus could likely survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures. Fetal viability is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy, but has moved down with medical advances. The ballot measure would allow abortion after fetal viability if a health care provider determines it is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
The number of states considering abortion ballot measures could increase. Officials in Montana and Nebraska have not yet determined whether proposed abortion rights initiatives qualify for a November vote. Nebraska officials are also evaluating a concurrent constitutional amendment This would enshrine the state’s current ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
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