Ashcroft's Delay Makes Vote On Missouri's 8-Week Ban 'Impossible,' Abortion-Rights Group Says

The pro-abortion rights group No Bans on Choice plans to abandon its efforts to collect signatures on a petition that would give voters the option to overturn a Missouri law that bans most abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, officials from the committee said Wednesday.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Wednesday released the wording for the ballot initiative after a months-long legal battle.

American Civil Liberties Union representatives say it’s unlikely they would collect the 100,000 signatures they need to place a referendum on the ballot before the law goes into effect on Aug. 28.

Abortion rights advocates in Missouri quickly accused Ashcroft of willfully withholding the initiative until the latest possible date to prevent the petition receiving enough signatures. They expressed outrage that Ashcroft had waited for so long.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/ashcroft-s-delay-makes-vote-missouri-s-8-week-ban-impossible-abortion-rights-group-says