Michigan, California, Vermont shore up right to abortion with ballot measures

Voters in battleground Michigan enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution, joining reliably Democratic California and Vermont in taking that step. An anti-abortion measure in Kentucky was too early to call.

The Tuesday ballot measures came months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion it guaranteed to women nationwide. The Dobbs decision in June has led to near-total bans in a dozen states.

Supporters of the push to protect abortion rights in Michigan collected more signatures than any other ballot initiative in state history to get it before the voters. It puts a definitive end to a 1931 ban on abortion that had been blocked in court but could have been revived. It also affirms the right to make pregnancy-related decisions about abortion and other reproductive services such as birth control without interference.

On Michigan State University's campus, junior Devin Roberts said that students seemed "fired up," and that he had seen lines of voters spilling out of the school's polling places throughout the day. The ballot measure was one of the main drivers of the high turnout, he said.

"There's a lot of energy for Prop 3 on campus right now, whether you agree with abortion or not," Roberts said. "I think students want to have the same rights that their parents had when they were younger."

WATCH | On the ground with Michigan's abortion activists:

Abortion rights on the ballot in Michigans midterm elections

2 years ago

Duration 7:01

In Michigan, voters in the midterm elections will be deciding whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. It's one of several states where abortion rights will literally be on the ballot. On both sides of the issue, voters say lives are at risk.

Nationally, about two-thirds of voters say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of over 90,000 voters across the country. Only about 1 in 10 say abortion should be illegal in all cases.

About six in 10 also say the Supreme Court's abortion decision made them dissatisfied or angry, compared with fewer who say they were happy or satisfied.

Kentucky voters prevent enshrined ban

James Miller, 66, of Flint, Mich., said he thought of his daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters when he voted in favour of the measure.

"I think we should do the right thing for women," he said. "It's her body; it's her privacy."

Michelle Groesser, of Swartz Creek, Mich., said she opposes abortion, even though she believes that any ban likely would have some narrow exceptions. "In a perfect world, I personally would want all life preserved," she said.

Opponents have contended the Michigan measure could have far-reaching effects on other laws in the state, such as one requiring parental notification of an abortion for someone under age 18. Legal experts say changes to other laws would only happen if someone sued and won, a process that could take years and has no certainty of success.

In deeply conservative Kentucky, voters rejected a ballot measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion, handing a victory to abortion-rights supporters who have seen access to the procedure eroded by Republican lawmakers in the deeply red state.

The Kentucky ballot question had asked voters if they wanted to amend the constitution to say: "To protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion."

Rachel Sweet of Protect Kentucky Access, an abortion-rights coalition, hailed the outcome as a "historic win" against "government overreach" into the personal medical decisions of Kentuckians.

While a significant moral victory for abortion-rights advocates, the amendment's defeat will have no practical impact on the right to an abortion if a sweeping ban on the procedure already approved by lawmakers survives a legal challenge.

Still, the amendment's rejection leaves open the possibility that abortion could be declared a state right by the court.

The Kentucky Supreme Court has a hearing next week on challenges by the state's two remaining abortion clinics to the near-total abortion ban approved by lawmakers. The high court ruled this summer that the ban would stay in place while it reviewed the challenges.

Calif. seeks to shore up right to contraception

The reproductive-rights question in Vermont came after the legislature passed a law in 2019 guaranteeing reproductive rights, including getting pregnant and having access to birth control. Supporters with the Reproductive Liberty Ballot Committee said the overturning of Roe meant "state-level protections are vital to safeguarding access to reproductive health care."

California already had passed several measures aimed at easing access to abortion and set aside millions of taxpayer dollars to help pay for some out-of-state abortion travel. On Tuesday, voters approved language that would explicitly guarantee access to abortion and contraception in the state constitution.

Montana voters, meanwhile, were also considering newborn resuscitative care requirements with possible criminal penalties, including the rare case of an attempted abortion.

The question for Montana voters was whether to create criminal penalties for health-care providers unless they do everything "medically appropriate and reasonable" to save the life of a baby after birth, including the rare possibility of birth after an attempted abortion.