Current:Home > ContactRepublican effort to restore abortion rights in Missouri folds -Elevate Profit Vision
Republican effort to restore abortion rights in Missouri folds
View
Date:2025-04-18 12:44:14
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Republican-led campaign to restore abortion rights in Missouri ended Thursday, clearing the path for a competing, more sweeping constitutional amendment to get on the state’s November ballot.
“Having two initiatives on the ballot would create confusion and potentially split the vote,” Missouri Women and Family Research Fund Executive Director Jamie Corley said in a statement. “No one wants that, so we have decided to suspend our campaign to amend Missouri’s abortion law.”
Corley’s withdrawal means a rival campaign backed by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and other abortion-rights groups can move forward without competition. The ballot initiative by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom would enshrine abortion in the state constitution while allowing lawmakers to regulate it after viability.
Both campaigns had wanted their measures to go straight to voters after a law passed by Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature barring almost all abortions took effect in 2022. Only abortions in cases of “medical emergencies” are legal in Missouri now.
Missouri’s Republican lawmakers appear uninterested in relaxing the law. A Democratic effort to allow for exceptions in cases of rape and incest was voted down along party lines Wednesday in the GOP-led Senate.
“Every Republican in the room voted against exceptions for victims of rape and incest,” Senate Democratic Minority Leader John Rizzo said Thursday. “That’s how extreme they’ve become, and that is why the only recourse for everyday Missourians is through the initiative petition process.”
Voters in seven states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters on ballot measures. Florida’s Republican attorney general on Wednesday asked the state Supreme Court to keep a proposed abortion rights amendment off the ballot.
Under Corley’s proposal, abortions would have been allowed for any reason up until 12 weeks into pregnancy in Missouri. Abortions in cases of rape, incest and fatal fetal abnormalities would be allowed until viability.
Corley had pitched her initiative petition as a moderate alternative that could pass in Missouri, where all statewide elected officials are Republican and abortion-rights groups hold huge sway in state politics.
She said she’s not joining the rival abortion-rights campaign but wants that initiative petition to be approved.
“I hope it passes,” she said. “I think they have a very, very tough campaign ahead. I am pretty worried about it.”
Nonetheless, the campaign appears hopeful. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom spokeswoman Mallory Schwarz in a Thursday statement said the campaign has “growing momentum.” Advocates earlier this week kicked off signature gathering events statewide.
But supporters say that even without a competing ballot measure, the remaining abortion-rights campaign still faces steep obstacles.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom’s campaign was delayed for months in a court fight with Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who is running for governor. GOP lawmakers are trying to raise the threshold for approving constitutional amendments before the November ballot, an effort motivated in part by the abortion-rights campaigns. And an anti-abortion campaign called Missouri Stands with Women launched last month with the direct goal of torpedoing any abortion-rights measure.
“Our coalition was prepared to inform Missourians on why they should decline to sign both pro-abortion petitions,” Missouri Stands with Women spokeswoman Stephanie Bell said in a statement. “So now we will be working twice as hard to defeat one petition instead of two, while pro-abortion activists remain divided on the issue.”
Initiative petition groups must collect at least 172,000 voter signatures by May 5 to make it on November’s ballot, another huge undertaking.
veryGood! (96)
Related
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- NY state urges appeals court to uphold Donald Trump’s nearly $500 million civil fraud judgment
- Run to Score Loungefly Fan Gear Up to 70% Off: $12 Wallets & $27 Backpacks from Disney, Pixar, NFL & More
- Military veteran pleads guilty to illegal possession of ricin
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Break Up, File for Divorce After 2 Years of Marriage
- Ashanti Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby With Nelly
- India’s lunar lander finds signs a vast magma ocean may have once existed on the moon
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Why Adam Sandler Doesn't Recommend His Daughters Watch His New Comedy Special
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Lionsgate recalls and apologizes for ‘Megalopolis’ trailer for fabricated quotes
- Judge rejects GOP call to give Wisconsin youth prison counselors more freedom to punish inmates
- Utah lawsuit seeks state control over vast areas of federal land
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- Harris’ family members are popping up around Chicago this week during the DNC. Here’s who’s who
- It's Al Roker's 70th birthday, and he got this advice from Oprah Winfrey
- Olivia Rodrigo sleeps 13 hours a night on Guts World Tour. Is too much sleep bad for you?
Recommendation
Average rate on 30
Disney drops arbitration push, agrees to have wrongful death lawsuit decided in court
Chipotle brings back IQ test giving away more than $1 million in free burritos, BOGO deals
Anthony Edwards trashes old-school NBA: Nobody had skill except Michael Jordan
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
2-year-old killed by tram on Maryland boardwalk
Jennifer Lopez's Ex Alex Rodriguez Posts Cryptic Message Amid Split From Ben Affleck
Nebraska man accepts plea deal in case of an active shooter drill that prosecutors say went too far