Jefferson City, Mo. - Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon E. Beetem heard arguments on the ACLU of Missouri’s petition to compel state officials to certify the reproductive freedom ballot initiatives.
The judge issued a deadline of Wednesday, June 14th for the Plaintiff, the State Auditor, and the Attorney General to submit proposed orders.
The ACLU of Missouri issued the following statement:
“We are hopeful that Judge Beetem will see that these state officials have broken the law and operated outside the bounds of Missouri’s initiative petition process. Their actions were a deliberate dereliction of their duty, which the statue provides clear and unambiguous directions to public officials on what their roles are, and a timeline for when those tasks need to be completed. Each of these government officials knows the part that their office is required to complete. We know this because every other petition initiative has been completed in the timely fashion as laid out by our statutes.
“We all know why they want to deprive retired pediatrician, Dr. Anna Fitz-James, her constitutional right to the initiative process; They are scared... scared to let Missourians exercise their right to vote on reproductive freedom. We have already seen a groundswell of excitement from the public at the opportunity to vote to enshrine existing reproductive rights and to re-establish the rights that were all too quickly ripped away from Missourians by government actors. Missourians want the right to make personal decisions about their reproductive health care – including prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, and miscarriage care – free from government interference. Any of these pragmatic proposals would restore the promise of Roe v. Wade, prevent health care providers from becoming criminals and protect Missourians from the current, life-threatening government ban on abortion.
“The ACLU of Missouri will always fight to protect Missourians right to direct democracy, especially in the face of government officials who will openly defy the law to deny voters their constitutional right to act on issues that the legislature either fails to do so or is completely out of step with their constituents on.”
For more information, visit https://www.aclu-mo.org/en/news/bailey-holds-reproductive-rights-petition-hostage-aclu-missouri-takes-legal-action-compel-ag
###