California, Vermont, and Michigan voters on Tuesday approved ballot measures codifying abortion rights into their state constitutions, while those in the solid red states of Montana and Kentucky voted down ones that would have restricted access to reproductive care, The Hill reported on Wednesday.
This appears to demonstrate strong backing for abortion rights after the Supreme Court in June overturned the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade case that made abortion a constitutional right and left the issue to the states.
Planned Parenthood said as much in a tweet on Tuesday night, stating "the message is clear: The majority of voters don’t want politicians deciding personal medical decisions for them."
Polls have also backed up that notion, with most Americans approving of the right to an abortion.
In an additional vote in August on the issue, Kansas voted down a measure that would have granted the Kansas Legislature the authority to restrict abortion access through a state constitutional amendment.
In the campaign for the midterm elections, Democrats and abortion-rights organizations invested hundreds of millions of dollars to back candidates who supported abortion rights.
Supporters of abortion rights also raised more money than their opponents in ballot measure campaigns in states that had them, NPR reported.
The victories for abortion right activists was particularly sweet in the red states. The Kentucky ballot measure would have declared that there is no right to an abortion in the state constitution, similar to the Kansas measure that was rejected a few month ago, according to The Hill.
And the ballot measure rejected by Montana voters would have approved the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which declares any fetus or embryo that survives an abortion is a legal person and makes it illegal for doctors not to attempt to save the life of a “born alive” infant.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.