Appeals court rewrites abortion rights repeal ballot measure
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -- The Missouri Western District Court of Appeals rewrote ballot language Thursday for a measure that seeks to repeal a constitutional amendment that enshrined a right to abortion last fall, finding the language submitted by the state’s top election official needed more work.
The woman who first brought the lawsuit, Anna Fitz-James, appealed a lower court’s decision certifying Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ Amendment 3 language for the ballot. She claimed that the ballot measure included multiple subjects and that the language did not accurately describe what would happen if the amendment were approved.
The legislature approved HJR 73 to put the amendment on the ballot.
The court found that the measure does not violate the Missouri Constitution’s requirement that ballot measures deal with just one subject. However, it found that none of the ballot statements had sufficiently explained the measure, which would repeal and replace language voters inserted into the Missouri Constitution in November 2024.
An example of the insufficient ballot language is the lack of a mention that it would repeal the amendment approved in November 2024, the judges concluded. The language as submitted is “likely to confuse voters,” the decision states.
The court also said Hoskins’ language should have included that the amendment would restrict abortions for rape and incest to no more than 12 weeks after conception.
“… The exclusion of the twelve-week time restriction in HJR 73’s summary statement could inaccurately insinuate to voters that abortion access would be more expansive in cases of rape and incest than actually permitted under HJR 73.”
The court ruled that language that explains a ban on gender-affirming care for minors should describe these treatments as being “for the purpose of gender transitions” instead of “sex-change procedures.”
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