The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday he ordered A proposal enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution will be added to the November ballot, ending a partisan dispute that unexpectedly erupted when a state board refused to approve the question last week .
The decision by the state’s highest court came after a four-member Michigan election board deadlocked over whether to allow the initiative. Two Republican members of the State Board of Collectors refused to certify the question, which required three votes, citing objections to the spacing and readability of the text of the proposal.
In her majority opinion, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget M. McCormack called the actions of opposing election board members “a sad sign of the times.”
“They would disenfranchise millions of Michiganders not because they think the many thousands of Michiganders who signed the proposal were confused by it, but because they think they’ve identified a technicality that allows them to do it, a gotcha game that has gone very wrong.” she wrote
The Reproductive Freedom for All Campaign, which led the signature drive behind the ballot question, said its efforts will now shift to calling voters in November.
“Now more than ever we are energized and motivated to restore the protections that were lost RoeDarci McConnell, a spokesperson for the group, said in a statement.
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After the electoral board’s impasse last month, the RFFA campaign asked the judges to expedite a decision before the September 9 deadline when the drafting of constitutional amendments and referendums must be completed legislators for the November vote. Final ballots are mailed to overseas and military voters beginning September 24.
In its petition, the reproductive rights campaign argued that the board “abandoned its clear legal duty” when it declined to add the measure to the ballot despite meeting the necessary legal requirements.
The anti-abortion group Citizens to Support MI Women and Children first raised objections to the proposal in August. The group filed a challenge to the state arguing that the typographical and spacing errors created “joke strings” that should be disqualified from being placed in the state constitution.
The group flagged three passages in the proposal where spacing problems created misspellings, including “DECISIONS ON ALL MATTERS RELATING TO PREGNANCY” and “POSTPART CARE,” although legislative experts dismissed this argument in various court documents and amicus briefs.
Christen Pollo, a spokeswoman for the group, said she is confident Michigan voters will reject the referendum question, which will appear on the ballot as Proposition 3.
“The consequences of this [amendment] they have a lot of scope,” Pollo told The Washington Post on Thursday. “Voters need to say no to Proposition 3 to keep this extreme and confusing mess out of our state constitution.”
From Roe v. Wade was overturned in June, the fight over abortion access has been especially intense in the reliably purple state. Before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Planned Parenthood of Michigan filed separate lawsuits to block the state’s nearly century-old abortion law from taking effect. If implemented, the law would make virtually all abortions, except those performed to save the mother’s life, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
If Michigan voters decide to protect abortion rights, the state will join Illinois and Minnesota as the only states in the Upper Midwest where abortion remains or is likely to remain legal. These states have already become a haven for women in this part of the country.
The high-turnout ballot measure is expected to draw voters at the polls on both sides of the aisle, which may have implications for the governor’s race. Recent polls indicate that Whitmer has an advantage over his Republican rival, Tudor Dixon. Moderate Republicans, a key voting bloc, may vote one way on abortion and another for gubernatorial or down-ballot races.
“Assuming we still have a red wave, the obvious and very big speed bump is pro-choice and conservative voters,” said Jason Roe, GOP political strategist and former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. “If the initiative is on the ballot, it gives them the opportunity to vote to determine what the abortion policy is in Michigan, but also to vote for Republican candidates.”
Four more states — California, Kentucky, Montana and Vermont — will put ballot measures before voters this fall. The California and Vermont propositions will ask whether voters want to enshrine the right to abortion in state law, while the Kentucky and Montana questions ask whether voters want to adopt laws banning abortion.
In August, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have removed abortion protections from state law.