igan Voters OK ‘Extreme Pro-Abortion Constitutional Amendment //
EAST LANSING (Michigan)–Voters approved Tuesday’s pro-abortion proposal 3 amendment to the Michigan Constitution. This will enshrine unborn children’s “right to be killed.”
Proposal 3 received 52% of the votes and was rejected by 46.6% according to Bridge Michigan .
“Today, the people in Michigan voted to restore their reproductive rights they’ve enjoyed for 50 years,” Darci McConnell, spokesperson for Reproductive Freedom for All, told Bridge Michigan after the group declared victory at 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
Proposal 3 had 3.7 million votes, or 78%, and was leading 55.6% to 44.4% by Wednesday morning, according to The New York Times .
McConnell stated that “Proposal 3’s passage is a historic victory for abortion accessibility in our state and across the country–and Michigan has paved a way for future efforts in order to restore the rights of Roe v. Wade national protections and rights.”
Amber Roseboom, Michigan Right to Life, said that Proposal 3 was the “most extreme proposal” facing the country in November.
Roseboom spoke at an election night watchparty to The Daily Signal that the constitutional amendment would create an “unrestricted [and] nonregulated right to abortion within the Michigan Constitution.” Roseboom said that it will also allow minors to undergo puberty-blocking or gender-transition therapies and have abortions, all without parental consent.
Michigan voters who supported the amendment stated that they believed it was necessary to ensure abortion access in their state.
Kristin Bellar, an Attorney, stated to The Daily Signal she voted for Proposal 3 due to her 6-year-old daughter.
Bellar, 41, said, “Sorry, it is a little emotional to talk about.” She was choking back tears. She said that Americans have “fundamental rights” to the right to choose to have an abortion. “It’s difficult for your family and friends to discuss it with you that aren’t in agreement.”
Michigan allows abortion until the unborn baby is viable. Although the state’s 1931 abortion ban remains in force, a court stopped the law from being reinstated after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs/Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Brian Kalt, a professor at Michigan State University, stated that he is an independent political figure and voted for Proposal 3.
Kalt stated that while he supports some restrictions, he wanted to restore the status-quo before [the Dobbs decision] as best he could. Kalt also said that Proposal 3 is not “quite” restoring Roe.
The amendment to Michigan Constitution reads in part
Every person has a fundamental right of reproductive freedom. This includes the right to make and enforce decisions about all matters related to pregnancy, including prenatal care, childbirth and postpartum care. A person’s right to reproductive liberty shall not be denied, burdened or infringed upon unless there is a compelling state interest. The state can regulate abortion care after fetal viable, provided that the state does not prohibit an abortion that is medically necessary to protect the individual’s life, physical, or mental health.
Proposal 3 was made popular after Joan Jacobson , a pro-life advocate, was shot in Lake Odessa 40 miles east from Grand Rapids while canvassing against the September abortion amendment.
Jacobson is doing well. He was at Tuesday’s polls. Jacobson told The Daily Signal that he was there “in case somebody was kind of like on a fence, wasn’t really sure. I could tell them this is what it’s going do, and maybe lead them to vote against.
Proposal 3 opponents raised concerns about the use of the term “sterilization” in the amendment. They feared that it could allow minors to receive gender transition surgeries, which involve the removal of reproductive organs without parental consent.
“Proposition 3 may be a win to the radical abortion lobby but it’s not a loss for mothers, unborn babies, or children,” Melanie Israel, a Heritage Foundation policy analyst, said to The Daily Signal via email. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.
Israel added:
Prop 3 allows abortion to be ordered at any stage of pregnancy. It extends beyond abortion. It could extend beyond abortion to include gender transition procedures for minors, even if the absolute right to “reproductive freedom” is not clearly defined.
The amendment has a lot of hidden issues… that voters, regardless of their views on abortion, don’t support: repealing parental permission, repealing safety and health standards that protect women, and even allowing nondoctors to perform abortions,” Christen pollo, spokesperson for Citizens to Support Michigan Women and Children, told The Daily Signal.
Tuesday morning, Dave Lockman, a voter, told The Daily Signal that Proposal 3 was not something he could support.
Lockman stated that he thinks it’s too vague even for a constitutional amend. “The language is too broad and I feel like something needs done differently. I don’t want to see us revert to the 1931 law, but I told my wife that [the state] will have to get it right before I can vote for it.”
Pollo said Monday that Proposal 3 goes “far above” Roe during a phone conversation.
Pollo stated that if Michigan’s pro-abortion coalition wanted to “draft something that would have just restored Roe or would have overturned 1931 law,” they could have done so and it would have been one- to two sentences in length. “But instead, they wrote that does… more than they claim it will.
Heritage’s Israel stated that “Michiganders are losing their ability to have an say on critically important policy issues.” “Prop 3 is a setback but pro-life Americans won’t shy away from the task to make abortion unthinkable.”
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