Missouri’s top election official says abortion measure qualifies for ballot

Voters will decide in November whether Missouri’s constitution should give mothers the legal right to abort their unborn babies, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said on Tuesday. Ashcroft certified that pro-abortion advocates provided enough signatures to put a proposed constitutional amendment on voters’ presidential election ballots. If passed, the amendment would grant women in Missouri the right to abort their unborn babies until those unborn babies can survive outside the womb. The law allows doctors to abort unborn babies even after the point of viability if the mother’s life, physical health or mental health is believed to be in danger. Missouri law currently protects all unborn babies from abortion except in cases of medical emergencies.

Who is behind this proposal? The pro-abortion group Missourians for Constitutional Freedom says it provided Ashcroft’s office with 380,000 signatures from all 114 counties in the state to get the proposal on the ballots. The ballot measure will allow voters in the state to decide for themselves whether they want mothers to have the legal right to abortion, MCF Campaign Manager Rachel Sweet said.

What do the proposal's opponents say? Missouri Right to Life published a document listing several reasons to oppose the measure. The organization argues that the measure will effectively eliminate a state law requiring parental notification and consent for a minor to receive an abortion.  The measure would also inevitably lead to abortion on demand, through all nine months of pregnancy, the organization states. Additionally, the organization says health care for women would deteriorate if the law is passed, and women would also lose their right to sue for malpractice. 

Dig deeper: Read Johnathan E. Swan’s column in WORLD Opinions discussing how a simple majority vote in Missouri will decide the lives of many unborn babies.