Proposal 3: Michigan voters embrace abortion rights amendment
Clara Hendrickson
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Michigan voters approved an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution, according to unofficial election night results.
Proposal 3 establishes a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom" which includes − but is not limited to − the right to seek abortion. It also protects a right to contraception and infertility care, for instance.
As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, with an estimated 91% of the vote counted, 56.7% of Michigan voters approved of Proposal 3, while 44.3% voted against it, according to unofficial results compiled by the Associated Press. Voters on Tuesday approved two other ballot proposals: one to establish early voting in Michigan and another to modify legislative term limits and add financial disclosures for some elected officials to the state constitution.
"Today, the people of Michigan voted to restore the reproductive rights they’ve had for 50 years,” said Darci McConnell, communication director for Reproductive Freedom for All, the group behind Proposal 3. "Proposal 3's passage marks an historic victory for abortion access in our state and in our country — and Michigan has paved the way for future efforts to restore the rights and protections of Roe v. Wade nationwide."
Alyssa Tigue, a 34 year-old Ferndale voter, was one of many canvassers who gathered signatures to put abortion rights to a statewide vote in Michigan. "It's really important for people to have autonomy over their own body, and it's between a woman, their family and their doctor and not the government," she said outside her polling place at Ferndale High School Tuesday.
Proponents billed the amendment as necessary to prevent the enforcement of a 1931 state law criminalizing most abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. A judge suspended enforcement of that law in response to a lawsuit from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer alleging the abortion ban violates the Michigan Constitution. "In an historic victory, Proposal 3’s successful passage makes Michigan the first state in the country to defeat a statewide abortion ban," Reproductive Freedom for All said in a statement.
Support for Proposal 3 comes after Michigan voters rejected two abortion-related ballot measures in previous decades.
In 1972, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a national right to abortion, Michigan voters rejected a proposal to allow physicians to perform abortions up to 20 weeks gestation. In 1988, Michigan voters also rejected a ballot proposal to prohibit public funding for abortions obtained by those receiving public assistance unless necessary to save the life of the mother.
Legal experts have argued that Proposal 3 offers strong protections for the right to seek abortions in Michigan. The amendment prohibits regulations unless justified by "the limited purpose of protecting the health of an individual seeking care, consistent with clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine."
It opens the door to restricting abortions later in pregnancy when a health care professional deems a fetus viable, so long as lawmakers do not prohibit abortions necessary "to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual."
Opponents have blasted the proposal as extreme, arguing it would repeal parental consent requirements for minors seeking abortions as well as health and safety regulations for abortion providers. Legal experts have disputed those claims. To be sure, the next Michigan Supreme Court will likely decide some legal questions over how the amendment is implemented.
Support MI Women & Children, a coalition opposed to Proposal 3, said to expect an onslaught of legal challenges over the proposal. "We will hold the sponsors of this proposal accountable for the claims they made, that no law beyond the 1931 law would be invalidated," said Christen Pollo, a spokesperson for the group, in a statement. "We expect the authors of this proposal to respond to the inevitable flood of litigation that will come with this amendment by insisting that laws like parental consent be upheld, as they promised the people of Michigan."
Reproductive Freedom for All filed a record number of signatures to qualify for a statewide vote, but encountered a dramatic path to the ballot.
The state's elections panel initially deadlocked along partisan lines on certifying the proposal over allegations leveled by opponents of the amendment that the text of the amendment circulated to collect signatures didn't contain enough spacing between words. But the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the panel to approve the measure for a vote.
County canvassing boards must review and sign off on the election results by Nov. 22. The Board of State Canvassers is scheduled to meet Nov. 28 to certify the results, including the outcome of the Proposal 3 vote.
Staff writer Emma Stein contributed to this report
Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.