Update, July 21: On Thursday, in a unanimous decision, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that state Attorney General Andrew Bailey overstepped his authority when he refused to approve the fiscal note for the abortion-rights ballot initiatives proposed by retired pediatrician Anna Fitz-James. Bailey’s stonewalling “cannot be justified,” Judge Paul Wilson wrote, affirming a lower court order directing Bailey to approve the fiscal note within 24 hours. “Fitz-James’s constitutional right of initiative petition is being obstructed, and the deadline for submitting signed petitions draws nearer every day.”

In May 2019, when Missouri banned abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy, abortion-rights advocates decided to put the issue to voters. Under their state constitution, they could hold a referendum on the new law, if they could gather enough signatures by a late-summer deadline. Missourians—not their representatives in the legislature—would be able to decide whether to keep the 8-week ban or overturn it.

But before the […]