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Efforts to repeal Missouri's new eight-week abortion ban with a public vote hit a roadblock Thursday, the latest development in a fight over abortion rights that's playing out on multiple fronts in the state. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft told reporters that he rejected two referendum petitions aimed at repealing the sweeping abortion law — one backed by the ACLU of Missouri and the other backed by businessman David Humphreys, a wealthy GOP donor. (Ballentine, 6/6)

Missouri's constitution gives citizens the right to veto a newly enacted laws by referendum. The ACLU filed its lawsuit against Ashcroft in Cole County Circuit Court in Jefferson City, the state capital. In announcing his decision, Ashcroft said, "there are certain limits to the people's right to a referendum." (6/6)

However, the constitution prohibits referendums for laws that are “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.” That’s boilerplate language for what’s known as an emergency clause, which makes either an entire law or part of a law go into effect immediately after a governor signs it. In the bill Parson signed last month, there’s an emergency clause for a provision requiring notification to both parents in some circumstances if a minor is seeking an abortion. And Ashcroft cited that for rejecting two of three referendum proposals submitted to his office. (Rosenbaum, 6/6)

A federal judge in Richmond is being asked to decide whether four Virginia abortion laws create mere inconveniences or undue burdens for women seeking abortions. During closing arguments Thursday in a lawsuit challenging the laws, an attorney for women's health groups said the regulations are medically unnecessary and limit women's access to abortion. "The benefits must outweigh its demonstrated burdens, and here they do not," said Jenny Ma, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. (Lavoie, 6/6)

A lawyer for the plaintiffs told U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson on Thursday that the evidence shows the laws are unconstitutionally burdensome for women seeking abortions, and a lawyer representing state officials said the plaintiffs failed to prove the laws were substantial obstacles to abortions and unconstitutional. The suit was filed a year ago by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the law firm O’Melveny & Myers, and local counsel for the ACLU of Virginia on behalf of the Falls Church Healthcare Center, the Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, and “Dr. Jane Doe.” (Green, 6/6)

Three-quarters of Americans say they want to keep in place the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, that made abortion legal in the United States, but a strong majority would like to see restrictions on abortion rights, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll. (Montanaro, 6/7)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Fetal Tissue Research Is Latest Flashpoint In Abortion Debate

The Trump administration this week announced efforts to restrict research using fetal tissue from elective abortions. The new policy bars such research by government scientists and creates hurdles for outside scientists that get funding from the National Institutes of Health. The move displaces a policy passed with bipartisan support in Congress more than 25 years ago. (6/6)