The ACLU of Missouri, alongside law firm Stinson LLP, filed a lawsuit on July 2 against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, alleging that he certified misleading and inaccurate ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment that would reverse recent voter-approved protections for reproductive rights.
The measure, House Joint Resolution 73, will appear on the ballot as Amendment 3. According to the ACLU, the certified ballot summary fails to inform voters that the amendment would eliminate the right to reproductive freedom and dismantle protections related to prenatal care, birth control, childbirth, postpartum care, and legal safeguards for physicians.
The lawsuit also argues that Amendment 3 violates Missouri’s constitutional single-subject rule for ballot initiatives by combining unrelated provisions. Among those are restrictions on health care for transgender adolescents, a mandate that all legal actions related to reproductive health care be heard exclusively in Cole County Circuit Court, and new oversight powers for the Attorney General.
The ACLU is asking the court to strike down the current ballot language as unfair and insufficient, and either rewrite the summary or block the amendment from appearing on the ballot altogether.
