JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri judge on Tuesday gave the state’s attorney general 24 hours to certify how much it would cost the state to put an abortion rights initiative petition on the ballot.
Roughly half of the country has an initiative petition process, allowing voters to gather a certain number of signatures to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Last week, two Missouri Democratic lawmakers spoke with leaders from other states, telling them they believe the only way abortion becomes legal again in the Show Me State is through an initiative petition.
“That’s why we see the GOP trying to make it more and more difficult for folks to have an initiative petition process that will successfully put this on the ballot, because they know this is what their constituents ultimately want,” Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, said.
A big priority for Republicans this past session was to make it harder for voters to change the state’s constitution, but it fell short of the finish line. The legislation would have increased the number of votes needed to approve an initiative petition. Without it, some GOP members worry abortion will become legal again.
“Our legislature is represented by a super majority that oftentimes doesn’t reflect the will of the people, which is why I’m glad we have our initiative petition process in this state,” Ingle said. “Most states don’t.”
After becoming the first state in the country to outlaw abortion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, there’s a chance Missouri voters could have a say in restoring abortion rights in the state.
Missouri’s ban only allows exceptions medical emergencies but not for race or incest. Back in March, 11 petitions were filed with the secretary of state’s office to roll back Missouri’s ban on abortion by adding protections to the constitution.
“I was really surprised in this last [election] cycle, I knocked about 10,000 doors myself and I was surprised over and over at the doors that the number one issue, regardless of political party, was access to reproductive care,” Ingle said.
The 11 versions of the proposed constitutional amendment to roll back Missouri’s ban on abortion was filed by a St. Louis doctor on behalf of a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The proposals would change the constitution to say, “government shall not infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”
Last month, the Missouri ACLU filed a lawsuit against the state for holding up the constitutional amendments, as supporters wait for the ballot summary to be released by the secretary of state’s office. The problem is the attorney general is pushing for a price tag on the proposal that is much higher than what the state auditor estimated.
“It doesn’t have to be like this, this is the United States of America,” Ingle said. “When someone needs access to medical care, they should be able to access the medical care that is deemed necessary and is scientifically and evidenced based.”
Tuesday, Cole County Judge Jon Beetem said Attorney General Andrew Bailey has no authority to refuse to accept Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s estimate of reinstate abortion rights. Bailey has previously refused to sign off on the amendment’s potential cost estimate. He said it could cost the state as much as a million times more than figured by Fitzpatrick because of lost Medicaid funding or lost revenue that wouldn’t be collected from people who would be born. Fitzpatrick estimates the initiative petition would cost the state $51,000.
“The attorney general has no authority to substitute his own judgement for that of the auditor regarding the estimated cost of a proposed measure,” Beetem wrote in his decision.
Beetem’s decision moves forward after the two Republican officials that halted the process. The ACLU of Missouri said Tuesday, the certification process should have only taken roughly 54 days but has taken over 100 days because of the standoff between Fitzpatrick and Bailey.
Missouri’s abortion ban does not allow for exceptions in cases of rape or incest, but only in medical emergencies.
It’s up to the auditor to calculate how much taxpayer money it could cost to implement a referendum and then it’s the attorney general’s job to review and approve the cost estimate.
Last week, Ingle and Democratic Sen. Barbara Washington from Kansas City met with dozens of lawmakers from other states where abortion is illegal at the White House.
“There was a lot of talk about having a federal law to enshrine reproductive rights for all Americans,” Ingle said. “What we’re seeing in a lot of the red states is they aren’t just trying to ban access to their state, but they’re trying to ban access from going to other states to get that access as well.”
Ingle and Washington met with 49 legislators from 25 states Wednesday that were attempting to roll back reproductive rights and then Thursday, they met with 32 lawmakers from 16 states to safeguard access to care.
“I think everyone was kind of amazed that so much of the legislation was identical, that none of it was specific to Missouri or even Mississippi,” Ingle said. “We were seeing a lot of the legislation was formed by the same groups of people and then given to legislators to file and make law, so my colleagues weren’t writing any of these pieces of legislation, it’s being handed to them.”
Bailey’s office said Tuesday he plans to appeal the ruling.
The standoff had prevented the Missouri Secretary of State from being allowed to release the ballot summary, meaning supporters could not collect signatures from voters. Once certified, the campaign will be required to collect signatures from 8% of legal voters in six of the state’s eight congressional districts in order to get the proposal on the ballot next November.