Jefferson City, Mo. - The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit on behalf of Anna Fitz-James against the Secretary of State for failing to use true and impartial language to describe Amendment 3 on materials that will appear at Missouri polling locations, which is known as Fair Ballot Language. The lawsuit requests that the court strike down the published language and replace it with an alternate fair and unbiased statement. The lawsuit is the third filed against Missouri officials for acting outside of their Constitutional duties in attempts to deceive voters or prevent Missourians from voting on abortion rights.
“Despite a growing majority of support for Amendment 3, which will end Missouri’s abortion ban, and previous court orders, the Secretary of State continues to act unconstitutionally to mislead Missouri’s voters,” said Tori Schafer, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri. “Just as we won our previous cases, we will continue to defeat these anti-democratic attacks in court and ensure Missourians have fair and unbiased information when they show up to vote to end Missouri’s abortion ban this November.”
In May, just under three months after signature collection began, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the grassroots coalition working to end Missouri’s abortion ban and protect reproductive freedom, submitted more than 380,000 signatures from Missourians in support of the ballot initiative.
The Secretary of State announced the certification of signatures for the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, also known as Amendment 3, on August 13. Following certification, the Secretary of State published the Amendment on the office’s official website which included a description that is argumentative to the adoption of the Amendment, misleading to the Amendment’s probable effects, and prejudicial to the Amendment.
Amendment 3 will end Missouri’s abortion ban and protect reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care. Missouri voters will be able to vote on the Amendment in the November General Election.
Read petition.