Advocates are asking a Missouri judge to rewrite what they say are misleading descriptions of abortion-rights constitutional amendments.
Missouri is among several states,, where abortion opponents are fighting efforts to ensure or restore access to the procedure following the fall of Roe v. Wade last year. In part, one of the Missouri petitions would amend the state's constitution to ban government infringement on the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care.
" Decisions on abortion, birth control and childbirth are some examples of reproductive care protected under the proposed amendments. In Missouri, summaries of proposed constitutional amendments are provided on ballots to help voters understand what the measures would do., summarized the amendments as allowing “dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth, without requiring a medical license or potentially being subject to medical malpractice.” “It is the secretary's duty to set aside his personal bias against the proposals and craft a neutral statement,” Missouri ACLU attorney Tony Rothert told the judge during Monday's hearing. ”Instead, the secretary acted as if he were playing the political-spin and manipulation-edition of mad libs." Assistant Attorney General Jason Krol Lewis defended Ashcroft's summaries. He said the plaintiffs' argument for a rewrite of the summaries “hides the ball about what these initiative petitions would do.” Under current Missouri law, almost all abortions are banned. But Lewis said the measures could also mean the fall of laws requiring abortion providers to have relationships with local hospitals, which he said is aimed at improving patient health. “The secretary's summaries actually do summarize and convey to voters the massive loopholes in the initiative petition that would bring access to effectively unregulated and unrestricted abortion in Missouri," Lewis said. Rothert said restrictions on abortions would still be allowed under the amendments, which include exceptions for government regulations for health and safety. He added that current rules on abortion could be upheld in court even if the amendment passes. The legal, legislative and ballot battles on abortion have been playing out at the state level since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and ended a nationwide right to abortion.
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Challengers seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures, calling them misleadingAdvocates are asking a Missouri judge to rewrite what they say are misleading descriptions of abortion-rights constitutional amendments.
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Challengers seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures, calling them misleadingAdvocates are asking a Missouri judge to rewrite what they say are misleading descriptions of abortion-rights constitutional amendments
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Challengers seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures, calling them misleadingAdvocates are asking a Missouri judge to rewrite what they say are misleading descriptions of abortion-rights constitutional amendments.
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Challengers seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures, calling them misleadingAdvocates are asking a Missouri judge to rewrite what they say are misleading descriptions of abortion-rights constitutional amendments.
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