2 Missouri lawmakers file lawsuit to block abortion issue from going on ballot

Two Missouri lawmakers were among a group that filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking an abortion issue from going on the November ballot.

Missouri Rep. Hannah Kelly and Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, both Republicans, filed the lawsuit this week in Cole County.

On Aug. 13, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certified three initiative petitions , finding there were enough signatures to place them on the ballot.

Among them was one that would restore abortion rights.

The abortion question, dubbed the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, would allow abortions up to fetal viability if voters sign off.

It defines fetal viability as "the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary."

Missouri banned most abortions in 2022, excluding cases of medical emergencies after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.

The lawsuit names Ashcroft and alleges the petition violates both Missouri state law and the constitution because it fails to "specify the laws and constitutional provisions that it would repeal, directly or by implication," according to a press release from Thomas More Society, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the lawmakers.

READ | Missouri lawmakers' lawsuit against Ashcroft

The lawsuit is asking a court to overturn the certification of the signatures gathered in support of the petition and remove it from the November ballot.

KSHB 41 reached out to Ashcroft's office for comment on the matter. This story will be updated if a response is received.

The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of pro-life advocates Kathy Forck and Peggy Forrest, president and CEO of Our Lady’s Inn.

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