Missouri has one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S. and was the first state to enact a “trigger law” following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. State Attorney General Andrew Bailey likes the law and has been doing everything can from letting voters in his state decide on whether the ban is fair.
But Missouri’s Supreme Court has ruled that Bailey was improperly stalling a ballot initiative to enshrine legalized abortion by pretending it would cost too much money, reports The Hill.
Ballot measures to protect abortion have been successful in other conservative states. As a result, state officials have been working to try to make the measure process much more difficult, if not ban it completely.
The court ruled the attorney general has the authority only to review the “legal content and form” of the auditor’s reports, “not their substance.”
Nothing in state law “gives the attorney general authority to question the auditor’s assessment of the fiscal impact of a proposed petition,” the court ruled.
In a statement, the ACLU of Missouri said, “While today is a tremendous victory for Missourians and the right to direct democracy, it is clear that some who hold office will not hesitate to trample the constitution if it advances their personal interests and political beliefs.”