Missouri, Mississippi lawmakers attempting to block pro-abortion initiatives

In Missouri, lawmakers are similarly pushing a change to the state’s process for putting initiatives on the ballot, with lawmakers seeking to avoid the passage of a pro-abortion initiative currently gathering signatures in the state. 

Under current law, initiative petitions to amend the state constitution must pass with a simple majority vote statewide. But under a measure approved by the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee Jan. 31, campaigns would also need to win a majority in 82 of the state’s 163 Missouri House districts, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Any change to the initiative petition process would have to appear as a proposed constitutional amendment on a statewide ballot and be approved by a majority of voters; supporters of the measure hope to have the change on the ballot by August, the Post-Dispatch continued. 

The proposals, filed last March by a group called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, would amend the Missouri Constitution to declare that the government “shall not infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters related to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.”

The Missouri Catholic Conference, which advocates for policy in the state on behalf of the bishops, urged Catholics in a recent newsletter to stay up to date on the various proposals. 

“It appears that — unlike in other states where abortion advocates ran successful initiative campaigns — abortion groups cannot agree on the best strategy in Missouri,” the conference wrote.