{"id":319117,"date":"2024-09-22T13:16:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T18:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=319117"},"modified":"2024-09-20T19:26:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T00:26:08","slug":"missouri-supreme-court-ballot-initiative-violated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/missouri-supreme-court-ballot-initiative-violated\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri Supreme Court splits 4-3 to allow ballot initiative that ‘straightforwardly violated’ the law"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(TC Public Relations<\/a>) On September 20, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court released opinions in Coleman, et al. v. Ashcroft<\/em>\u2014ten days following its decision\u2014revealing that the state\u2019s high court was split 4-3 in ruling to keep Amendment 3, Missouri\u2019s \u201cReproductive Freedom\u201d ballot initiative, on the November ballot. The Missouri Supreme Court\u2019s September 10, 2024, decision reversed a lower court judgment against Amendment 3, which had found that the initiative petition for the proposed ballot initiative violated<\/a> state law. Thomas More Society attorneys had challenged Missouri\u2019s proposed Amendment 3 and argued against its inclusion on the November ballot before the Missouri Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

The dissenting opinion, authored by Judge Kelly Broniec, argued that the majority opinion reached \u201can absurd result contrary to the plain language\u201d of the state law requiring ballot initiative petitions to inform voters of what laws or constitutional provisions would be repealed through the proposed measure\u2014which Amendment 3\u2019s ballot initiative petition failed to do. Broniec\u2019s dissenting opinion also highlighted the many state laws that would face repeal if Amendment 3 is passed by voters, including Missouri\u2019s \u201cRight to Life of the Unborn Child Act,\u201d parental consent and notification laws, the state\u2019s waiting period requirement for abortion, and many more.<\/p>\n

Mary Catherine Martin, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel, reacted:<\/p>\n

By contrast with the majority opinion, Judge Broniec, dissenting, needed few words to agree with the trial court that Amendment 3\u2019s drafters straightforwardly violated Missouri\u2019s election laws. It should not require courage to clearly apply the law, but it does when powerful political forces oppose a just outcome. We applaud the courage of these three dissenting judges, and we look forward to a day when they can hold in a majority that Missouri\u2019s laws apply to everyone, even the ACLU.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a pre-election review process that was constitutional, Missouri would have been spared this egregiously wrong decision, which leaves Missouri voters less protected than they were before. The majority fell victim to multiple falsehoods and mischaracterizations of the statutes and their own case law that were introduced by the drafters of Amendment 3 in their Supreme Court brief, less than 24 hours prior to oral argument. In doing so, the majority\u2019s opinion validates our charge that the pre-election review window in Missouri is unconstitutionally short.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the Opinion, issued September 20, 2024 by the Missouri Supreme Court, in Coleman, et al. v. Ashcroft<\/em>, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read background on Coleman, et al. v. Ashcroft<\/em> on the Thomas More Society case page, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

View and download photos of Thomas More Society clients and attorneys from Missouri Supreme Court arguments in Coleman, et al. v. Ashcroft<\/em>, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This press release was emailed from TC Public Relations<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Urge Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and other major chains to resist pressure to dispense the abortion pill<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(TC Public Relations) On September 20, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court released opinions in Coleman, et al. v. Ashcroft\u2014ten days following its decision\u2014revealing that the state\u2019s high court was split 4-3 in ruling to keep Amendment 3, Missouri\u2019s \u201cReproductive Freedom\u201d ballot initiative, on the November ballot. The Missouri Supreme Court\u2019s September 10, 2024, decision reversed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":756,"featured_media":319118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,3473,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMissouri Supreme Court splits 4-3 to allow ballot initiative that 'straightforwardly violated' the law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The dissenting opinion by Judge Kelly Broniec said the majority opinion reached \u201can absurd result contrary to the plain language\u201d of the law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/missouri-supreme-court-ballot-initiative-violated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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