Missouri Supreme Court to hear state appeal of abortion law ruling
(The Center Square) — With the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals deliberating Missouri’s second appeal of a federal judge’s injunction against enacting a 2019 law that bans abortions at eight weeks, the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments in a related abortion case Wednesday.
State attorneys will argue that Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem was mistaken when he ruled the two-week deadline to collect 100,000 signatures to get a November 2020 proposal to nix the 2019 law before voters imposed by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was designed to unconstitutionally “derail” the effort and ensure it never made it on the ballot.
State attorneys maintain in their filings that Ashcroft’s actions comply with state law and “are entirely permissible, straightforward practical rules governing the ballot measure process.”
In his Dec. 4 ruling, Beetem found Ashcroft shortened the time span to collect signatures required for a ballot initiative.
After rejecting the referendum petition drive for months, Ashcroft didn’t allow sponsors to proceed until mid-August, giving them just two weeks to meet the deadline to secure 100,000 signatures to qualify for the November 2022 ballot.
Ashcroft rejected first versions of the proposed referendum, he said, because the prospective ballot measure only addressed the contested half of HB 126,
Having state residents vote on sections of HB 126 that are being deliberated in state and federal courts doesn’t make sense, he determined.
But Beetem saw it differently and said while Missouri law accords the secretary of state authority to challenge signature gatherings that are “in conflict with the constitution,” the secretary of state doesn’t have the right to “derail” the right of citizens to overturn laws approved by the General Assembly.
“The state may not constitutionally delay the circulation of a referendum petition for the purpose of certifying a ballot title,” Beetem wrote, determining that Ashcroft’s actions in delaying the launch of signature-gathering until mid-August denied citizens the right to challenge HB 126 in a statewide referendum.
HB 126 bans abortions sought after eight weeks solely because a prenatal diagnosis, test, or screening, with physicians who do so facing up to 15 years in prison.
The bill, however, has never been fully enacted because shortly after it was signed into law, Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, the state’s only abortion provider, filed a federal lawsuit challenging.
In July 2019, ACLU secured an injunction from U.S. Western District of Missouri Judge Howard Sachs, stopping the law from being enacted.
The state appealed Sach’s ruling. On June 9, a three-judge 8th Circuit panel upheld the injunction. In July, however, the 8th U.S. Circuit agreed to review the panel’s ruling. They did so Sept. 14. A ruling is expected this fall.
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