Auditor: Missouri Attorney General had no authority to inflate cost of abortion amendment

Emails show Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s office completed its work on the cost estimate for an abortion rights ballot issue, but Attorney General Andrew Bailey refused to give what has traditionally been considered perfunctory approval — and demanded the auditor falsely inflate the numbers.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey overstepped his authority when he demanded changes to the cost estimate of an abortion-rights initiative petition, state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick argued in a legal brief filed in Cole County Court last week.

Fitzpatrick, Bailey and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, all Republicans, were sued last month by the Missouri ACLU over delays in finalizing the ballot summary for an initiative petition seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.