Constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights in Missouri qualifies for November ballot, would reverse nearly total ban

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters will decide in November whether to guarantee abortion rights through a constitutional amendment that would reverse the state’s near-total ban on the procedure.

The secretary of state certified Tuesday that an initiative petition has received more than enough valid signatures from registered voters to qualify for the general election. It will need the approval of a majority of voters to become enshrined in the state constitution.

ABC7 Chicago is now on the air 24/7. Click here to watch

If passed, Missouri’s initiative would “do something no other state has done before — end the total ban on abortion at the ballot box,” said Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which sponsors measure with significant financial support. from affiliates Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Missouri will join at least a half-dozen states that will vote on abortion rights during the presidential election. Arizona’s secretary of state has certified an abortion rights measure for Monday’s ballot. The measures will also go before voters in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. While not explicitly addressing abortion rights, a New York ballot measure would ban discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” among others.

READ MORE: Chicago Abortion Fund Helps Out-of-State Women Get Abortions in Illinois After Roe v Wade Overturned

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said there are enough signatures to hold the November election on initiatives to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and legalize sports betting. But he said an initiative to permit a casino at the popular Lake of the Ozarks tourist destination fell short of the required threshold.

The initiatives will appear on the ballot alongside candidates for top offices, including governor, the U.S. Senate and the state legislature, meaning abortion is likely to become an even bigger political issue in the state.

RELATED: Trump says it’s up to each state if they want to prosecute women for abortion

The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday denounced the abortion measure as an “extreme proposal funded by out-of-state liberals.”

“Mike Kehoe opposes attempts by the radical left to rewrite Missouri’s long history of pro-life protections,” his campaign said in a statement.

MORE COVERAGE: Kamala Harris’ Super PAC Releases First Campaign Ad Targeting Trump Over Roe v. Wade

Democratic gubernatorial candidate House Minority Leader Crystal Quade praised the measure and said she would “make sure this ballot initiative is implemented to the fullest extent.”

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion rights nationwide in 2022, sparking a state-by-state battle in legislatures and a new push to let voters decide the issue. Since the ruling, most Republican-controlled states have enacted new abortion restrictions, while most Democratic-controlled states have measures protecting access to abortion.

Abortion rights supporters prevailed in all seven states that have already decided on 2022 ballot measures: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont.

Abortion News: The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the legal challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn its Roe v. Wade precedent triggered a 2019 Missouri law banning abortion “except in cases of medical emergency.” This law makes it a crime punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison to perform or induce an abortion, although a woman who performs an abortion cannot be prosecuted.

Since then, almost no abortions have occurred at Missouri facilities. But that doesn’t mean Missourians don’t have abortions. They could get abortion pills from out of state or travel to clinics elsewhere, including those across the border in Illinois and Kansas.

The Missouri ballot measure would create the right to abortion until a fetus could survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures. Fetal viability was generally thought to be around 23 or 24 weeks’ gestation, but has moved downward with medical advances. The ballot measure would allow abortions after fetal viability if a health care professional deems it necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.

The number of states considering abortion ballot measures could grow. Officials in Montana and Nebraska have not yet determined whether their proposed abortion rights initiatives qualify for a November ballot. Nebraska officials are also evaluating a competing constitutional amendment that would enshrine the state’s current ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Campaign committees supporting the abortion rights and sports betting measures have each already spent more than $5 million, with millions more expected. The sports betting initiative was funded largely by the parent companies of DraftKings and FanDuel, but is also backed by Missouri’s six professional sports teams, which would control on-site betting and advertising near their stadiums and arenas.

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia already offer some form of sports betting, which has expanded rapidly since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it in 2018. Missouri sports teams turned to the initiative process after efforts to legalize sports betting have been repeatedly. thwarted in the state Senate.

“Missouri is now just one step away from joining most states in legalizing sports betting and being able to provide millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms,” said President St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Bill DeWitt III in a statement Tuesday.

The minimum wage measure would raise the state’s current rate of $12.30 an hour to $13.75 an hour in 2025 and $15 an hour by 2026, with annual adjustments for inflation after that. It would also require employers to provide paid sick leave.