JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) 鈥 A constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights in Missouri will move forward after a judge on Tuesday broke a standoff between two Republican officials that had halted the process.
Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem Attorney General Andrew Bailey to approve fellow Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick's estimated $51,000 price tag on the proposal within 24 hours.
Bailey had refused to approve the price estimate, arguing that if the proposal were to succeed, than that figure because of lost Medicaid funding or lost revenue that wouldn鈥檛 be collected from people who otherwise would be born.
But Beetem said Bailey has 鈥渘o authority to substitute his own judgment for that of the Auditor.鈥
鈥淭here is an absolute absence of authority to conclude the Attorney General is permitted to send the Auditor鈥檚 fiscal note summary back to revision simply because he disagrees with the Auditor鈥檚 estimated cost or savings of a proposed measure,鈥 Beetem wrote in his ruling.
A spokesperson said the attorney general's office will appeal.
If approved by voters, the proposal the individual right to make decisions about abortion, childbirth and birth control.
Missouri's Republican-led Legislature and Republican governor after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. The state now allows exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for cases of rape or incest.
In Missouri, the auditor is required to calculate how much taxpayer money it could cost to implement ballot measures. The attorney general then reviews and approves the cost estimate in an administrative step that historically has been uneventful.
Fitzpatrick鈥檚 office in March found that the proposal would have no known impact on state funds and an estimated cost of at least $51,000 annually in reduced local tax revenues, although 鈥渙pponents estimate a potentially significant loss to state revenue.鈥
Bailey said that cost estimate was so low it would bias voters and told Fitzpatrick to change it.
Fitzpatrick refused, arguing that a multibillion-dollar projection for the initiative petition would be inaccurate, despite Fitzpatrick鈥檚 personal opposition to abortion.
鈥淎s much as I would prefer to be able to say this IP would result in a loss to the state of Missouri of $12.5 billion in federal funds, it wouldn鈥檛,鈥 Fitzpatrick wrote in an April 21 letter to Bailey. 鈥淭o submit a fiscal note summary that I know contains inaccurate information would violate my duty as State Auditor to produce an accurate fiscal note summary.鈥
The standoff had blocked the secretary of state from allowing the pro-abortion rights campaign to start collecting signatures from voters. The campaign would need to collect signatures from 8% of legal voters in six of the state鈥檚 eight congressional districts in order to get the proposal on the 2024 ballot.
In his ruling, Beetem wrote that Bailey's refusal to approve the cost estimate meant that the abortion rights campaign lost out on 50 days of gathering voter signatures.
鈥淗is illegal actions have obstructed the statutorily prescribed timeline twice over, showing a depth of antipathy towards our right to direct democracy in an attempt to prevent Missourians from voting for their reproductive freedom," said Tony Rothert, director of integrated advocacy at the ACLU of Missouri. which represented a plaintiff from the campaign.
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