When Missouri House of Representatives Speaker Dean Plocher (R-St. Louis County) said of the abortion rights initiative petition “I believe it will pass. Absolutely,” it was one of the few honest things that were said, are being said, and will be said by opponents of the measure before it appears on the ballot.

On May 3, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom delivered 380,159 signatures to the office of Missouri Secretary of State Republican Jay Ashcroft, far surpassing the required 172,000 signatures. Despite the shenanigans of Secretary Ashcroft that delayed starting to get signatures for months, from early February when the signature drive began until April 28 when it ended, an average of approximately 4,500 Missouri voters per day signed the petition across Missouri. That is overwhelming support.

Opponents are going to challenge signatures in county clerks offices, hoping to get enough thrown out for the petition to fall short. They will fail, just like their “decline to sign” campaign failed. Even with the expectation that some signatures will be stricken, more than enough voters signed the petition to put the amendment on the ballot this fall, and Speaker Plocher will be proven correct.

The success of the petition drive belies the tactics of the opposition, which were filled with lies about the amendment as well as the people soliciting signatures, and occasional intimidation directed at those of us circulating petitions. Secretary Ashcroft wrote a ballot summary that was so prejudicial that a judge rewrote the summary. An appeals court upheld the judge’s wording, and the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Ashcroft’s appeal. Ashcroft continues to lie, most recently at a May 1 rally when he falsely said the amendment would allow abortion until “the last second” before birth, ignoring the fact that the amendment does allow for some restrictions after fetal viability. We should expect others to parrot his lie leading up to the election.

Opponents complained that special interests and out-of-state money contributed to the campaign; nowhere have I seen complaints about Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmidt getting out-of-state contributions for their campaigns. Opponents also decried “paid” signature collectors, ignoring the fact that thousands of Missouri residents — myself and many family and friends included — volunteered to solicit signatures. And thousands of voters sought out drive-through sites or campaign offices of their own volition because they wanted to sign, not because they were approached to sign.

At the same rally where Secretary Ashcroft lied to the crowd, Christian radio broadcaster Paul Shipman said, “it just kind of shows you the direction where the nation is going and the direction where the state of Missouri is going.” Like Speaker Plocher, he was correct. The nation, and Missouri, is going in the same direction as Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, and other states where abortion rights are on the ballot: giving women the freedom to make their own decisions on reproductive care is a winning issue.

Gene Davison lives in Springfield.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: GOP gets this much right: Missourians will support abortion rights