Effort to put Missouri abortion ban to vote can proceed
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An appellate court panel ruled Monday that the American Civil Liberties Union can soon begin collecting signatures that would put a new Missouri law banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy to a public vote.
A three-judge panel of the state’s Court of Appeals found that Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was “without authority” to reject petitions on constitutional grounds. The 31-page ruling was issued just hours after the panel heard oral arguments in the case.
ACLU of Missouri acting executive director Tony Rothert had argued that time was of the essence. Most of the new law, including the eight-week abortion ban, takes effect Aug. 28. The ACLU needs to collect more than 100,000 signatures by then to put the law on hold until a public vote in 2020. Rothert had argued that the signature gathering should begin by July 18.
“We are pleased with the ruling,” Rothert said. “We think the secretary of state was wrong and quite clearly trying to derail the referendum effort. We are happy that the court is going to get it back on track.”
https://www.stltoday.com/news/national/crime-and-courts/effort-to-put-missouri-abortion-ban-to-vote-can-proceed/article_085411da-9ff4-5369-ac31-6dc3a094bf69.html#tracking-source=home-top-story