Mich. voters to decide abortion rights
LANSING, Mich. — A question on Michigan’s November ballot asking voters to put the right to an abortion in the state constitution could have a powerful effect: drawing more left-leaning voters to the polls and boosting Democrats’ power in the battleground state.
A record number of people — more than 750,000 — signed petitions to put the measure on the Nov. 8 ballot after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision that had guaranteed the right to an abortion nationwide. Supporters said the decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade was a powerful motivation, particularly for women, to get involved in politics — some for the first time.
Now, with a Michigan election board agreeing Friday to place the measure on the ballot, Democrats are hoping that translates into increased support for their candidates in an election in which the party is defending all statewide offices, including governor. Democrats also are looking to take control of at least one chamber of the Republican-led Legislature in a battleground state that is expected to be pivotal in the 2024 presidential election.
“When we collected signatures for the ballot initiative, we met women who had never voted or signed a ballot initiative petition before but were getting involved because the stakes for women and families are so high,” said Kelly Dillaha, Michigan program director for Red Wine and Blue, a group that helped put the initiative on the ballot. Those same women, Dillaha said, are now mobilizing their friends, families and communities to vote in November.
A poll taken shortly after the Supreme Court decision found 53% of U.S. adults saying they disapprove of the court overturning Roe vs. Wade, while 30% said they approve. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 60% think Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.
Democrats have seen reason for optimism in other elections held since the Supreme Court’s ruling. In conservative Kansas, for example, voters overwhelmingly defeated an abortion measure that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban abortion.
“I think we saw in Kansas that the ballot measure certainly increased turnout and changed the turnout equation significantly to make it more favorable to folks who favor abortion rights,” said Jessica Post, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. “And so these Republican candidates have finally kind of gotten what they wanted and what they’ve been working for forever, and they’re ready to face a giant electoral backlash.”
Opponents of abortion say the Michigan initiative goes too far and may affect other laws, such as requiring parental consent for a girl’s abortion, though proponents dispute that. The amendment would affirm the right to make pregnancy-related decisions without interference, including abortion and other reproductive services such as birth control. It would essentially nullify a dormant 1931 state law that makes it a crime to perform most abortions, a ban that was suspended by a judge last spring. A judge declared the ban unconstitutional this week, but abortion opponents could appeal that decision.
Michigan is among four states, along with California, Kentucky and Vermont, that will have votes in November on abortion access.