There’s good news out of Missouri on the pro-life front, compliments of a late Friday ruling issued by Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh (yes, cousin of Rush and David) regarding proposed Amendment 3, which would amend the state constitution to establish a constitutional right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability.
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To understand the somewhat surprising ruling, a bit of background first:
One of the most frustrating aspects of being a Republican voter in the decidedly red state of Missouri is the fact that the state legislature repeatedly seems to hamstring itself and manage not to get important agenda items across the finish line each session, despite the Republican “supermajority.”
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I’ve described the Missouri quandary previously:
For several years, conservatives have watched in frustration as a legislature dominated by Republicans (and with a Republican governor) has repeatedly found a way to not pass effective legislation that embodies core conservative principles. School choice, transgender issues, election integrity, initiative petition reform — those are just a few of the areas in which productive legislation has either failed to pass or passed in watered-down fashion. Why?
The short answer to that is leadership. The long answer is a bit more complicated. But no matter how you slice it, the Missouri legislature — once again — failed to pass initiative petition reform this year and, as a result, proponents of the abortion amendment were able to get it onto the ballot in November…maybe.
It’s the same old song, with “establishment” players pitted against the conservative caucus, and in Missouri, it’s turned into trench warfare. On Tuesday, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden took the extraordinary measure of stripping Freedom Caucus members of committee chairmanships — and parking spots — in retaliation for their filibuster last Thursday over legislation aimed at raising the bar on the initiative petition process for amending Missouri’s Constitution. [Side Note: Presently, the threshold for passing constitutional amendments in the state is 50 percent, and the state’s Constitution has a whopping 119 amendments.]
This is a pressing concern for Missourians on many fronts, but most notably when it comes to the issue of life — Missouri’s prohibition against abortion (with the limited exception for medical emergencies) was triggered and went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision in June of 2022.
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Here’s where Judge Limbaugh’s Friday decision comes into play: In a 10-page Judgment, which may be viewed in full below, Limbaugh ruled that Amendment 3 did not properly comply with both constitutional and statutory requirements that all constitutional and statutory measures that will be repealed by the proposed amendment be disclosed.
The ruling isn’t the final word on the matter, however.
Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that the coalition behind the citizen-led ballot measure failed to meet the sufficiency requirement through a “failure to include any statute or provision that will be repealed, especially when many of these statutes are apparent.”
A spokesperson for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind the reproductive-rights amendment, said they plan to appeal.
Limbaugh also wrote that while he found a “blatant violation” of state law, he “recognizes the gravity of the unique issues involved in this case, and the lack of direct precedent on point.”
As a result, he won’t issue an injunction preventing the amendment from being printed on the ballot until Tuesday to allow time for “further guidance or rulings” from the appeals court.
The constitutional deadline for ballots to be printed is Tuesday.
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As noted, the group pushing for the amendment plans to appeal. Indeed, they filed a notice of appeal on Saturday. The case will now move on to the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District and will likely land in the Missouri Supreme Court when all is said and done.
To sum it up: Missouri currently has one of the strongest prohibitions on abortion, which went into effect once the Dobbs decision was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Abortion proponents have maneuvered to place the issue on the November ballot via a proposed constitutional amendment, which would establish a constitutional right to abortion in Missouri up to the point of viability (and will likely drive voter turnout for Democrats). Currently, in Missouri, because the Republican “supermajority” hasn’t yet gotten initiative petition reform passed, the threshold for passing constitutional amendments is only 50 percent. Judge Limbaugh’s ruling, if upheld, means the measure will not make it onto the November ballot. We will, of course, follow the case closely and report on any additional developments.
MO – Amendment 3 Ruling – 9-6-24 by Susie Moore on Scribd