LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Michigan abortion rights ballot initiative approved by the state Bureau of Elections eventually deadlocked in the Board of Canvassers meeting on Thursday.
Now, the initiative goes to the Michigan Supreme Court to rule whether or not the initiative will be placed before voters on the November 8 ballot.
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Reproductive Freedom for All, which is one of the major driving forces behind the initiative, took to Twitter on Wednesday after the 2-2 vote and called the move “disenfranchising.”
More than 730,000 Michiganders read, understood, and signed the petition! The board is disenfranchising hundreds of voters who want to restore Roe and keep in place the reproductive rights we’ve had in Michigan for the last 50 years. (2/3)
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@mireprofreedom) August 31, 2022
The petition can be viewed below.
Currently, Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban remains untriggered after a series of court battles and temporary injunctions prohibiting prosecutors from charging abortion providers. Under a 1963 Michigan Supreme Court ruling, mothers cannot be prosecuted for having an abortion.
David Kallman, an attorney representing two county prosecutors in a related case, told Michigan News Source there’s more to this amendment proposal than what appears on the surface.
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“This amendment would permit partial-birth abortion,” Kallman said. “It would allow minors to get abortions without parental knowledge or consent. It would allow government funding of abortions across the board.”
The Michigan Supreme Court must decide this case by September 9 since that’s when the printing of ballots begin.
The general election is November 8.
