Advocates seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measure language

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge will rule Thursday on whether the Republican secretary of state’s official description of an abortion-rights amendment on November’s ballot is misleading.

At issue is a proposed amendment to Missouri’s Constitution that would restore abortion rights in the state, which banned almost all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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.

Ballot language written by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office says a “yes” vote on the abortion-rights measure 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.

The amendment itself states that the government shall not infringe on an individual’s right to “reproductive freedom,”

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