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LANSING, Mich. The Michigan Board of Canvassers on Wednesday rejected an abortion rights initiative after its two Republican board members voted against putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
The two Democrats on the board voted in favor, but getting the measure on the ballot required at least three votes of the four-member board. The Reproductive Freedom for All campaign, which gathered signatures to get the measure on the ballot, is expected to appeal to the Democratic-leaning Michigan Supreme Court in the coming days.
The board’s verdict isn’t expected to be the last word on the proposed constitutional amendment, which aims to negate a 91-year-old state law that would ban abortion in all instances except to save the life of the mother. But the meeting drew hundreds of people, who packed the hearing room and overflow rooms for a chance to comment. Abortion opponents also protested outside.
Michigan’s 1931 law — which abortion opponents had hoped would be triggered by a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade in June — remains blocked after months of court battles. A state judge ruled Aug. 19 that Republican county prosecutors couldn’t enforce the ban, saying it was “in the public’s best interest to let the people of the great state of Michigan decide this matter at the ballot box.”
Both sides indicated they would file challenges with the state’s Democrat-leaning Supreme Court if the decision went against them. Supporters of another initiative that didn’t make the ballot Wednesday — a measure to expand voting, including adding ballot drop boxes — also are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Groups have seven business days to appeal and the ballot must be finalized by Sept. 9.
The Bureau of Elections verified last Thursday that the abortion ballot initiative petition contained enough valid signatures for the amendment to qualify for the ballot and recommended that the state Board of Canvassers approve the measure.
