LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Bureau of Elections report published Thursday says a proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution gathered enough valid signatures to make the November ballot.

Reproductive Freedom for All turned in more than 752,000 signatures in July.  After examining petition sheets and a random sample of 513 signatures, state officials found the campaign had submitted an estimated 596,379 valid signatures. That amount exceeded the number of signatures needed for certification by the Board of State Canvassers.

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The state Bureau of Elections recommended that the bipartisan board certify the proposal for the ballot at its Aug. 31 meeting.

The bureau did not weigh in regarding text formatting and grammar challenges regarding the initiatives.

Reproductive Freedom for All launched its campaign to amend the Michigan Constitution to “explicitly affirm” reproductive rights, including abortion, in January. It would undo a 1931 ban on abortion that’s served as the basis for a back-and-forth in the courts between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, abortion providers, and prosecutors.

It also distinguishes the two candidates running for the state’s top job. Incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is a staunch advocate for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. She’s consistently vowed to “fight like hell” for abortion rights in Michigan.

 

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GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon is staunchly pro-life and is endorsed by the Michigan Right to Life-PAC. She called out Whitmer’s veto of programs that would have supported adoptive families and cared for pregnant college students.

In July she spoke specifically to Michigan mothers and young women in a press release: “Do not listen to the poisonous people that want you to believe you have to pick and choose.  You don’t.  That is glass-ceiling thinking.  Do not let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.  You can. It may not be easy, but we will support you. As Governor, I will support and enact policies that lift up mothers and children.”

Michigan’s general election is November 8.