Cole County rules against Attorney General in abortion case

(AP) — A constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights in Missouri will move forward after a Cole County judge on Tuesday broke a standoff between two Republican officials that had halted the process.

Judge Jon Beetem ordered Attorney General Andrew Bailey to approve fellow Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s estimated $51,000 price tag on the proposal within 24 hours.

Bailey had refused to approve the price estimate, arguing that if the proposal were to succeed, it could cost the state as much as a million times more than that figure because of lost Medicaid funding or lost revenue that wouldn’t be collected from people who otherwise would be born.

But Beetem said Bailey has “no authority to substitute his own judgment for that of the Auditor.”