Missouri judge orders end to GOP officials’ standoff over proposed abortion rights ballot measure

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights in Missouri will move forward after a judge broke a standoff between two Republican officials that had halted the process. Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem on Tuesday ordered Missouri’s attorney general to approve the state auditor’s cost estimate for the proposed amendment, which comes in response to the Republican-led state’s near-total ban on abortion following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer. The auditor estimates that restoring abortion rights could cost at least $51,000. The attorney general says the measure would cost between $12 billion and $51 billion because of lost Medicaid funding or lost revenue that wouldn’t be collected from people who otherwise would be born.