Five states across the U.S. will have abortion on their ballots in November. Four of them were confirmed earlier this year, with a fifth clearing the last legal hurdle on Thursday.
According to World Population Review, the five states combined would cover over 56.4 million Americans, or about 16.9 percent of the nation.
CNN reported that the California, Kentucky, Montana and Vermont will be voting on ballot measures to restrict abortion or fortify it within their legal framework.
Michigan hung in the balance, with the Michigan Board of State Canvassers deadlocked along partisan lines in a 2-2 vote on Aug. 31.
Reproductive Freedom for All, the group spearheading the pro-abortion bill, asked the state’s Supreme Court to intervene, according to CNN.
The Detroit News reported that the court ruled in favor of the group on Sept. 8, ordering the bill to “enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution” to appear on the Michigan ballot.
California’s Prop.1, or the “Right to Reproductive Freedom,” as summarized by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, “changes the California Constitution to say that the state cannot deny or interfere with a person’s reproductive freedom and that people have the fundamental right to choose: -Whether or not to have an abortion. -Whether or not to use contraceptives.”
The California Family Council told CNN that the proposed amendment is an “extreme and costly proposal that does nothing to advance women’s health.”
The California Catholic Conference called it a “misleading ballot measure that allows unlimited late-term abortions — for any reason, at any time, even moments before birth, paid for by tax dollars,” according to the outlet.
Are you glad the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade?
Kentucky’s Amendment 2, proposed by House Bill 91. would “Propose to create a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky to state that Kentucky’s Constitution does not secure or protect a right to abortion or funding of abortion.”
Montana’s Legislative Referendum 131, or House Bill 167, is “An act adopting the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act; providing that infants born alive, including infants born alive after an abortion, are legal persons; requiring health care providers to take necessary actions to preserve the life of a born-alive infant; providing a penalty; providing that the proposed act be submitted to the qualified electors of Montana; and providing an effective date.”
Vermont’s Article 22, or Senate Proposal 5, would enshrine abortion in the Constitution of Vermont, adding the language: “That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
Mary Beerworth, the executive director of the Vermont Right to Life Committee told CNN the bill goes “way, way further” than just abortion.
“It will be about a vast range of anything that pertains to your personal reproductive autonomy, from surrogacy, three-parent embryo, designer babies, minors possibly accessing the hormone blockers for transgender surgery without their parents’ knowledge or consent,” she told CNN.
“It’s opening a whole new world here if it passes,” she added
Michigan’s Reproductive Freedom for All Amendment is a massive proposed amendment in comparison to those being considered in other states.
The proposed amendment would alter Michigan’s constitution to include language that says: “Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, the law would create “an unambiguous right for minors to seek abortions.”
