Government

Returned By The Supreme Court, Michigan Will Decide The Issue Of Abortion

Next term they'll be voting on if heart transplants are okie dokie.

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vote voter voting boothA common refrain repeated by Forced Birthers is that the right to get an abortion isn’t in the federal Constitution. And once you get past the “penumbras and enumerations” handwaving, most Democrats will begrudgingly admit that it’s not actually anywhere in the Constitution. The federal one at least. Alaska has the right enshrined in its Constitution — Michigan could be next.

As states grapple with the future of abortion, Michigan could become one of the first in the nation to let voters decide the matter. A proposed constitutional amendment there would override a 90-year-old state law that makes abortion a felony, even in the case of rape or incest.

This week, organizers like Mazur submitted more than 750,000 signatures — which they say is a “historic” record — to state election officials in hopes of having the amendment appear on the November ballot. If just over half of those signatures are validated, Michigan voters will decide whether to amend the state’s constitution to guarantee broad, individual rights to “reproductive freedom,” including abortion, contraception and fertilty [sic] treatments. The change would also allow abortions later in pregnancy, if the patient’s “physical or mental health” is at stake.

Considering that abortions are an important procedure, this could quite literally be a vote or die moment for Michiganders. A travesty that comes with so much (overwhelmingly Christian) right-wing rhetoric against abortion as a late-term baby-killing process is that people forget that the uterus is a part of person whose healthcare options become severely limited in unexpected ways if the procedure is no longer available. Federalism is cool, voting and autonomy are great, but we should remain concerned about the very real threat of states becoming religious fiefdoms. As the Court fails to respect the Establishment Clause and legislatures invoke their Gods, soon-to-arrive generations may have to map out their summer trips based on which religious sect was able to crowdsource the most ballots. Sure, Michigan can (and hopefully will) amass enough votes to protect its citizens from a religious minority dictating what womb-havers can do with their lives, but what happens when Texans or Floridians at the behest of God, modify their Constitutions to punish sodomy or wearing mixed fabrics?

There really should be some federal protections — maybe baked into the Fourteenth Amendment — for healthcare access across all 50 states before people have to factor in which states are currently putting to vote if blood transfusions should be allowed or if doctors should be allowed to work on the Sabbath.

In Michigan, The Future Of Abortion Rights Could Soon Be Up To Voters [NPR]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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