Missouri General Assembly adjourns without Initiative Petition Reform

By Steve Rupp, President, Missouri Right to Life
Posted 5/22/24

The 2024 legislative session ended today, Friday, May 17. While we are thankful to see the final passage of legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, we are disappointed that passage of Initiative …

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Missouri General Assembly adjourns without Initiative Petition Reform

Posted

The 2024 legislative session ended today, Friday, May 17. While we are thankful to see the final passage of legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, we are disappointed that passage of Initiative Petition Reform to protect the Missouri Constitution and unborn babies by Concurrent Majorities, did not pass.

The House sent the Senate two bills with language that would have put on the ballot the question for Missourians to vote and determine if they want to increase the protection of our Missouri Constitution. This concurrent majority package of 50+ 1 and a vote of a majority of 5 of 8 Congressional Districts in order to change our Missouri Constitution would have gone to the voters of Missouri. The best chance we had to do that was through Senate Joint Resolution 74 (SJR 74).

The sponsor of SJR 74, Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman, failed to hold to the language of the bill that included election integrity language to ensure that only citizens can vote and that foreign countries could not influence the amending of our Missouri Constitution. When SJR 74 was stripped of the election integrity language in February without the sponsor of the bill speaking against it, we know now that the bill was on a path to fail.

After much debate and the final filibuster of the session by pro-abortion Democrats, the refusal by the Sponsor of SJR 74, Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman, to work to call the previous question to shut down the filibuster and come to a vote on protecting our Missouri Constitution, the failure of the President Pro-Tem of the Senate, Senator Caleb Rowden and the failure of the Majority Floor Leader, Senator Cindy O’Laughlin to lead and give support in passing SJR 74, the bill died.

Although some Republicans have abandoned their constituency base of conservatives and conservative values, there are many Missourians who will remember those who failed to pass SJR 74.

Pro-Life Missourians will continue to work to save babies and protect women from the abortion industry. We pray for Missouri and our pro-life work ahead.