Missouri Judge Blocks Ballot Measure to Enshrine Abortion in State Constitution

A Missouri judge has ruled that a proposed ballot measure to enshrine abortion access in the state Constitution failed to meet the legal requirements for the November ballot, delivering a setback to the campaign seeking to overturn the state’s near-total abortion ban, while still allowing the organization a chance to appeal. Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled on Sept. 6 that the proposed measure, known as Amendment 3, did not adequately inform voters about the laws it would potentially overturn. “The court must conclude that the defendant-intervenors’ initiative petition was insufficient,” Limbaugh wrote in his ruling, emphasizing that the signature-gathering effort did not disclose the extent of the laws that would be impacted, in “blatant violation of the sufficiency requirements” set out in Missouri law....