Lawsuit seeks to remove Missouri abortion law amendment from ballot
Two Republican state lawmakers and an anti-abortion activist filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a judge to block the inclusion of a constitutional amendment providing abortion rights on the Nov. 5 ballot.
State Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman, State Representative Hannah Kelly and Kathy Forck filed suit last year to challenge the cost estimate for a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal Missouri’s abortion ban.
The campaign behind the proposal ultimately collected enough signatures to secure it a place on the November ballot, where it will appear as Amendment 3.
On Thursday, Coleman, Kelly, Forck and Marguerite Forrest, the operator of a shelter for homeless pregnant women in St. Louis County, filed a new lawsuit in Cole District Court arguing that the decision to put the amendment on the ballot should be reversed.
The amendment violates the Missouri Constitution because it illegally addresses more than one issue, the lawsuit says. It also fails to identify the laws and constitutional provisions that would be repealed if voters approved the amendment, the lawsuit says.
In a joint press statement, the plaintiffs said Amendment 3 was a “direct threat to the lives of women in Missouri because it undermines the will of voters who chose to protect the safety of women and children by electing strong pro-life politicians.”
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Amendment 3-supporting Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, called Thursday’s lawsuit “another baseless and desperate attempt by politicians to silence Missouri voters and prevent them from being heard. We will not allow that to happen.”
Sweet said she was confident the courts would “see through and promptly reject this thinly veiled attempt to block Missouri voters.”
Missouri was the first state to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to the procedure in 2022. Since then, abortion has been effectively illegal, with few exceptions only in medical emergencies. There are no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest.
If voters approve Amendment 3, abortion would be legal until the fetus is viable. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, this is an indefinite period of time generally considered to be the point at which the fetus can survive on its own outside the womb. It is usually around 24 weeks.
Such a change would return Missouri to the standard set by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which also legalized abortions until the fetus is viable. Missouri’s amendment also provides for post-viability exceptions “to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
The Missouri amendment also states that women and those who perform or assist in abortions cannot be prosecuted. Under current Missouri law, doctors who perform abortions that are deemed unnecessary can be charged with a Class B felony and face up to 15 years in prison. Their medical license can also be suspended or revoked.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, argues that Amendment 3 illegally covers more than one issue, in part because of its use of the phrase “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”
The lawsuit argues that this phrase has “unlimited reach” and “systematically neutralizes any existing or future laws that seek to restrict this new, limitless ‘right to reproductive freedom.'” It sets out numerous restrictions on abortion and other laws that could be repealed by Amendment 3 if passed by voters. These include restrictions on when abortions can be performed and bans on certain stem cell research.
This story was first published on missouriindependent.com.
