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Over the weekend the Copper Country League of Women’s Voters held a march, coinciding with other marches across the country. Rallies, marches, and demonstrations held in the nation’s and state capitols, along with those in outlying cities and towns are meant to raise awareness for the upcoming midterm elections. Come November 8th Michigan voters will decide whether or not to enact proposal three, tying reproductive rights to the state constitution.
Over the course of the past year, petitioners gathered 735,000 valid signatures of registered Michigan voters, in support of the reproductive freedom for all ballot initiative. The campaign ramped up their collection efforts, following the Supreme Court’s overturning of the historic case, Roe vs Wade, that had protected a woman’s right to privacy when making medical decisions regarding reproductive health. The initiative faced adversity on its way to Michigan voters, when the state Board of Canvassers deadlocked along party lines on their decision to include it for the mid-terms. The state supreme court then ruled that the proposal shall appear, stating that the proposal remains in eight point font, words remain in the same order as when approved in March 2022, and the meaning of the words does not change regardless of insufficient spacing.
According to Bridge Michigan, the ballot proposal would amend the state constitution to; guarantee every individual’s right to reproductive freedom, still allow legislatures to regulate abortion procedures for after a pregnancy reaches viability, however physicians may still perform an abortion when necessary to protect the life physical or mental health of the mother, allow the state to restrict abortion rights, when deemed “justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means”, and prohibit the state from prosecuting an individual based on actual, potential, perceived, or alleged outcomes including abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirths. Proposal three does include some vague language that will be left to legal interpretation by legislators, prosecutors, and legal professionals.
Proposal Three has gained support from groups including ACLU of Michigan, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan and Michigan Voices. Opponents of the proposal include Citizens to Support Michigan Women and Children, Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference.
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Michigan.gov November 8th, 2022 ballot proposals webpage
To view the proposal three full text, follow the link above, and select Proposal 22-3
