FILE – Missouri residents and pro-choice advocates react to a speaker during Missourians for Constitutional Freedom kick-off petition drive, Feb. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)
The Missouri Supreme Court will decide whether a ruling by a judge — who is also a cousin to late conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh — striking down a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state will stand.
After Missouri Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled late Friday that the ballot initiative known as Amendment 3 violated state law, the case bypassed Missouri’s court of appeals and headed straight to the state’s’ highest bench. Oral arguments are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday — the same day ballots are supposed to be printed for absentee voters.
Missouri has a near-total ban on abortion that was put into place immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 . A proposed ballot initiative known as “The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative” proposed revising Missouri’s constitution to protect abortion rights by including the following language: