On August 13, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft approved a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine a so-called “right to reproductive freedom” to appear on the November general election ballot as Amendment 3. The same day, the Secretary of State’s website published the amendment’s fair ballot language statement, which is to be posted at every polling place next to the sample ballot. The fair ballot language does not appear on the individual ballot.
The fair ballot language for Amendment 3 reads: “A ‘yes’ vote will enshrine the right to abortion at any time of a pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution. Additionally, it will prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women.”
“A ‘no’ vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri.”
Abortion proponents filed a lawsuit alleging the “fair ballot language” is “intentionally argumentative” and bound to create confusion for voters. The named plaintiff in the lawsuit is Dr. Anna Fitz-James, who also wrote the amendment language. The plaintiff stated Ashcorft’s language as “unfair, insufficient, inaccurate, misleading, argumentative, prejudicial.”
You can read more about the lawsuit here.