Missouri abortion-rights amendment could be axed from the ballot after ruling

A Missouri judge on Friday ruled that an abortion-rights campaign did not meet legal requirements to qualify for the November ballot, potentially thwarting a yearslong effort to undo the state’s near-total abortion ban.

But Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh stopped short of removing the measure from the ballot. Instead, he gave the abortion-rights campaign a chance to file a last-minute appeal before Tuesday’s deadline to make changes to the Missouri ballot.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom will appeal the decision and hopes for “a swift resolution so that Missourians can vote on November 5 to protect reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, birth control and miscarriage care,” campaign manager Rachel Sweet said in a statement.

In his ruling, Limbaugh said Missourians for Constitutional Freedom did not do enough during the signature-gathering process to inform voters that the measure would undo the state’s near-total abortion ban.

Plaintiff’s attorney Mary Catherine Martin during a Friday bench trial said at least some voters would not have signed the petition to put the amendment on the ballot if they had known about all the laws that could be repealed.

Loretta Haggard, a lawyer for the abortion-rights campaign, argued that it will be up to future judges to decide which abortion laws are thrown out if the amendment is adopted.