As the country’s midterm elections took place, several referendums on the legality of abortion also took place in various states. One Republican and one battleground state even chose to protect abortion rights, a landmark victory following the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In four states where access to abortion was on the ballot Tuesday, voters spoke out in favor of this right. In both Democratic states like California and Vermont, as well as disputed Michigan, the right to abortion was enshrined in the state Constitution. In the Republican state of Kentucky, an anti-abortion measure was handed a defeat.
In California, Vermont, and Michigan, the right to abortion will be inscribed and protected in the state constitution.
California voters voted to support the Reproductive Freedom Amendment. This indicates that “the State will not deny or interfere” with said freedom “of the individual in his most intimate decisions, which include his fundamental right to choose an abortion and his fundamental right to choose or reject contraceptives.”
In Vermont, it was made official that “an individual’s right to her personal reproductive autonomy is fundamental to her freedom and dignity in determining the course of her own life.”
In Michigan, voters overturned a 1931 law that banned abortion in all cases and could have been reinstated after the Supreme Court ruling. Voters approved the proposal to amend the Michigan Constitution to include the protection of reproductive rights.