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Oct. 29, 2023 |  By: Jason Hancock - Missouri Independent

Lawsuit challenges summary, fiscal note of new Missouri abortion-rights petition

abortion

By Jason Hancock - Missouri Independent

A group seeking to add exceptions to the state’s abortion ban for rape and incest filed a lawsuit Thursday arguing the ballot summary and fiscal note are unfair and inaccurate. 

Filed in August by Republican political operative Jamie Corley with assistance from Democratic attorney Chuck Hatfield, the initiative petitions are being pitched as a middle ground between the ban currently in place and more expansive proposals filed earlier this year by abortion-rights supporters.

Last week, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft released his summary of the proposals that will appear on the ballot, writing that the petitions would either “allow no excuse abortions” for up to 12 weeks or “nullify Missouri laws protecting the right to life.”

Additionally, the fiscal note drafted by Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says the petitions would cost the state $21 million because Attorney General Andrew Bailey will refuse to defend them in court if approved by voters. 

Corley argues Ashcroft used “blatantly false information” in the summaries, as well as phrases like “until live birth,” making the summaries “intentionally argumentative, insufficient, and unfair.”

Ashcroft described certain provisions of the initiative petitions in “antagonistic and blatantly incorrect terms likely to prejudice voters against the measures,” the lawsuit states. 

“Voters should heed these political moves as a canary in the coal mine for the lengths some politicians will take to keep the government involved in a woman—or child’s—pregnancy, even if that pregnancy is a result of rape,” Corley said. 

In a statement released by his office, Ashcroft said Corley’s lawsuit is “another example of individuals trying to mask the truth to mislead voters. The secretary of state’s office will always fight to protect the right of Missourians to make their own decision on how to vote.”

Fitzpatrick said his office has been “consistent with our treatment of all initiative petitions as we’ve used a process that has worked for decades to produce accurate and unbiased cost estimates.

“While I understand both proponents and opponents would prefer a fiscal note that favors their position,” he said, “my commitment to the voters of Missouri will not be swayed by political pressure from either side. We will defend our work once again and will continue to produce fair fiscal notes and fiscal note summaries the voters can trust.”

Last month, a Cole County judge threw out Ashcroft’s summaries for a different abortion-rights initiative petition, calling his work misleading and unfair. That ruling has been appealed. 

Each version of the constitutional amendment filed by Corley says there must be a “compelling governmental interest” for abortion restrictions to be put in place. And every version would add exceptions to the state’s abortion ban for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and the health and safety of the mother.

But while some allow the legislature to regulate abortion after “fetal viability,” others draw the line at 24 weeks of gestation. Some versions make it clear the state can enact parental consent laws for minors seeking abortions. Others leave the topic out entirely.

“When we go to court it provides an opportunity to remind Missourians that we have the most extreme, punitive abortion law in the country,” Corley said, “and it’s clear some politicians will do whatever they can to see that it stays on the books.”