Groups sue Ashcroft for ‘robbing’ Missourians of vote on abortion regulations

mdjonline.com ^ | SEPT. 3, 2019 | Alisa Nelson -- Missourinet

[Morgana]

Jefferson City) -- Two groups are suing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for his handling of an attempt to block new abortion regulations.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the No Bans on Choice Committee say Ashcroft refused to issue the ballot language needed to start collecting signatures for a public vote. In a press call on Thursday, representatives of the groups say Ashcroft robbed Missourians of 78 days by giving abortion rights advocates 14 days to collect 100,000 signatures.

“We had to face reality and we know that we can’t ask our volunteers in good faith to go after this impossible task of getting this many signatures in time,” says Robin Utz with the No Bans on Choice Committee. “Missouri’s Constitution is clear on the right to referendum – the people have 90 days to the gather signatures to put any law passed by the legislature up to a vote.”

Utz says she has not been a politically involved person in Missouri, but the issue is deeply personal to her. She had been trying for four years to get pregnant. In July 2016, she and her husband successfully pulled off their plans to have a family.

At a 21-week routine anatomy scan, Utz says they found out that their daughter, Grace Pearl, had a fatal fetal anomaly that would not develop the baby’s kidneys and lungs.

[shanover]

A baby to some is just going to the supermarket and choosing the right fruit or vegetable. Nobody in their right mind would buy anything rotten,right? I did not have this medical problem that this baby in the story has but I was a very premature baby and the doctor did give my mother a “choice”. Well,here I am.