JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri – Missouri voters this fall could face a choice between a continuing abortion ban and a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights until late in a woman’s pregnancy.

By Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s office had to decide whether an abortion rights initiative had received enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. If so, approval from a majority of voters would be needed to effectively repeal the state’s current restrictions.

Supporters of the initiative expressed confidence that the bill would make it to a vote after submitting more than twice the required number of signatures.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is also currently reviewing whether there are enough signatures to hold a November election on initiatives that would increase the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, legalize sports betting and approve a casino at the popular tourist destination Lake of the Ozarks.

Missouri would join at least half a dozen states voting on abortion rights during the presidential election. Arizona’s secretary of state approved an abortion rights bill for the ballot on Monday. Bills will also be put to the vote in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. A bill in New York would not explicitly address abortion rights but would prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” among other things.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a nationwide abortion right in 2022, setting off a state-by-state fight in their legislatures and a new push to let voters decide the issue. Since the ruling, new abortion restrictions have gone into effect in most Republican-led states, while most Democratic-led states have passed measures to protect abortion access.

Abortion rights advocates have prevailed in all seven states where ballot measures have already been decided since 2022: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont.

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade precedent sparked a 2019 Missouri law banning abortions “except in medical emergencies.” Under that law, performing or inducing an abortion is a crime punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison, although a woman who has an abortion cannot be prosecuted.

Since then, abortions have been almost non-existent in Missouri. But that doesn’t mean Missourians don’t get abortions. They can still go to abortion clinics outside the state, including ones just across the border in Illinois and Kansas.

The ballot bill in Missouri would create a right to abortion until a fetus could likely survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical intervention. Fetal viability has generally been estimated at around 23 or 24 weeks of gestation, but has shifted downward with medical advances. The ballot bill would allow abortions after fetal viability if a doctor determines it is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.

The number of states voting on abortion laws could grow. Officials in Montana and Nebraska have not yet decided whether their proposed abortion rights initiatives will make it to a November ballot. Officials in Nebraska are also considering a competing constitutional amendment that would enshrine the state’s current ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.