ST. LOUIS – After Missouri voters passed Amendment 3 on Election Day, enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution, the 13 Missouri clergy who sued to overturn the state’s total abortion ban as a violation of church-state separation today announced their intent to dismiss their lawsuit. A motion was filed with the Missouri Supreme Court requesting the appeal in the case, Rev. Traci Blackmon v. State of Missouri, be dismissed because Amendment 3 invalidates the abortion ban.
The clergy plaintiffs are represented by a legal team that includes Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), and Missouri civil rights lawyer Denise Lieberman.
The Rev. Traci Blackmon, named petitioner and an ordained United Church of Christ minister, said: “Challenging Missouri’s abortion ban was an expression of my faith, which calls us to defend the dignity and autonomy of all people. We aren’t truly free unless we can control our own bodies, lives, and futures.”
Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, said: “Americans United is proud to have represented these faith leaders and to be part of the broader effort to restore abortion access in Missouri. Even as we celebrate this victory for the people of Missouri, abortion rights and church-state separation, we know the fight for equity and bodily autonomy is not over. We are committed to ensuring that everyone has the freedom to make their own decisions about their own bodies based on their own beliefs. Church-state separation and religious freedom require reproductive freedom.”
K. M. Bell, senior litigation counsel at NWLC, said: “This case was about protecting the fundamental right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom for all Missourians. With the passing of Amendment 3, the people of Missouri have made it clear that they reject efforts to control personal health care decisions based on religious beliefs. State officials must now respect the will of the people and comply with the Constitution. NWLC is honored to have supported the Petitioners in this crucial fight.”
The lawsuit was filed in January 2023 on behalf of 13 clergy whose various faiths call them to support abortion access because of the critical importance it holds for the health, autonomy, economic security, and equality of women and all who can become pregnant. Religious traditions represented by the plaintiffs include Baptist, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism and United Methodist. One plaintiff is also a state legislator.
The faith leader plaintiffs are Rev. Traci Blackmon, Rabbi Doug Alpert, Rev. Jan Barnes, Rabbi Jim Bennett, Rev. Cindy Bumb, Rabbi Andrea Goldstein, Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, Rev. Darryl Gray, Rt. Rev. Deon K. Johnson, Rev. Holly McKissick, Rev. Barbara Phifer, Rabbi Susan Talve, and Rev. Krista Taves.
The lawsuit alleged that Missouri’s total abortion ban and other related restrictions violate the state constitution by enshrining lawmakers’ personal religious beliefs about abortion in House Bill No. 126 and Senate Bill 5. One of the provisions of H.B. 126 was a “trigger ban” that prohibited all abortions following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.
In passing the legislation, Missouri lawmakers openly and repeatedly emphasized they were writing their religious beliefs into the abortion bans, even declaring in the language of a statute that “Almighty God is the author of life” – a phrase that an opposing lawmaker noted was “in violation of the separation of church and state.”
In addition to the State of Missouri, the defendants named in the lawsuit include state and local officials responsible for enforcing or ensuring compliance with the abortion ban, including Missouri Gov. Mike Parson; Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey; Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services Director Paula F. Nickelson; multiple county prosecutors; and officials at the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts.
An appeal in the lawsuit was pending before the Missouri Supreme Court after St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser had ruled that Missouri’s abortion ban does not violate the church-state provisions of the Missouri Constitution.
Americans United is a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, AU educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Liz Hayes
Associate Vice President of Communications
[email protected]
