Will Missouri be the next state where voters expand abortion access?

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a measure enshrining a right to abortion in the state’s constitution.

Ohio became the seventh state where voters decided to protect abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

Last year, Michigan, Vermont and California voted to strengthen abortion access, while Montana, Kansas and Kentucky voted to not further restrict abortion rights.

“I think it speaks very favorably about how women in this nation are still and will continue to be upset about the Dobbs decision,” said Missouri Rep. Deb Lavender, who represents parts of west St. Louis County. “I think that bodes very well for Missouri.”

Lavender is one of those abortion rights advocates aiming to have Missouri be one of the next states to expand abortion access.

There are 17 proposed abortion initiatives fighting to make it to ballots next year. Some proposals allow abortions in the case of rape, incest and fatal fetal abnormalities if someone calls into a crisis hotline — up until 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Other petitions allow abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy or after fetal viability, except if the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life. One version has no restrictions at all.

Current Missouri law bans abortion. The only exception is in the event of an emergency to protect the mother’s life.

A ballot initiative needs more than 50% of votes to become law and more than 171,000 signatures by May to get put on a campaign ballot.

“Abortion is certainly an injustice to those children who are lost,” said Brian Westbrook, executive director of St. Louis-based Coalition Life. “Yet, at the same time, we need to make sure that we are actually taking care of these women on the ground. We literally have to go out and help these individuals, and that work doesn’t stop simply because a ballot initiative passes.”

Proposed ballot measures are tied up in legal disputes over wording with Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

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