A Cole County judge says Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft unconstitutionally delayed a group’s effort to overturn an abortion law.
Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum’s ruling says Ashcroft used an unconstitutional set of laws to delay the collection of referendum signatures attempting to overturn new abortion regulations.
The ACLU and another group sued Ashcroft after he waited to approve the proposed referendum’s official title – giving them two weeks to gather 100,000 signatures required to get the issue on the ballot. The 2019 law bans abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, except in medical emergencies.
