Effort to put abortion ban to vote can proceed

(AP) An appellate court panel has ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union can soon begin collecting signatures that would put a new Missouri law banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy to a public vote.

A three-judge panel of the state’s Court of Appeals found Monday that GOP Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft erred in rejecting petitions to put the law on the 2020 ballot. The 31-page ruling Monday was issued just hours after the panel heard oral arguments in the case.

ACLU of Missouri acting executive director Tony Rothert had argued that time was of the essence. Most of the new law, including the eight-week abortion ban, takes effect Aug. 28. The ACLU needs to collect more than 100,000 signatures.