Missouri Supreme Court Rules Abortion Measure Will Remain on November Ballot

The ruling reversed a Sept. 6 court decision to block the pro-abortion measure.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 10 that a measure to repeal the state’s abortion ban will be allowed on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The measure states that the government cannot “deny or infringe” upon a person’s reproductive decisions, including abortion or contraception.

The ruling reversed a Cole County judge’s Sept. 6 decision to block the measure on the grounds that it did not explain which statutes would be repealed if it passed. The previous ruling said it violated a state law that says a petition must “include all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.”

The measure contains a provision allowing the state to set a limit to abortions after the fetus reaches viability unless the woman’s physical or mental health is in danger.

Mary Catherine Martin, attorney for the pro-life group Thomas More Society, argued during the Sept. 10 hearing that the amendment misled voters by “failing to disclose its major effects.”

Proponents of the measure held in court that voters should decide the issue.

Charles Hatfield, an attorney for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom—the campaign backing the abortion measure—asked the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decision “to protect the process against interference by elected officials opposed to the goals of the measure.”

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) welcomed the decision on social media platform X.

“Victory! Missourians’ right to reproductive freedom remains on the ballot this November.”

Chairman Nick Myers of the Missouri Republican Party said he is concerned that the measure, if passed, would potentially extend the timeframe for legal abortion.

“If Amendment 3 becomes law, it will legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy—right up until the moment of birth.”

Missouri is one of 10 states in which abortion is on the ballot this November.