Kentucky voters have rejected an amendment that should have denied the state constitution the right to have an abortion. Earlier, people had gathered on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort to encourage voters to vote yes for the 2nd Amendment, but failed.
Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images
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Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images
Kentucky voters have rejected an amendment that should have denied the state constitution the right to have an abortion. Earlier, people had gathered on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort to encourage voters to vote yes for the 2nd Amendment, but failed.
Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images
Voters in some states where abortion on the ballot generally favorable to the right to abortion.
A decision by the US Supreme Court this summer overturned decades of abortion rights precedent, leaving the issue of abortion rights in jeopardy. to the states.
That has raised the stakes for voters in several states – including Vermont, California, Michigan, Montana and Kentucky – with abortion-related questions on this year’s ballot.
Vermont becomes the first state in the nation amend its constitution to protect “reproductive autonomy”, after a majority of voters voted in favor of it, as widely expected. Abortion is already protected under state law passed in 2019, but the amendment adds those rights by adding protections to the state constitution.
As expected, California voters also approved a similar measures protect abortion rights.
In one of the most watched ballot measures on the issue, Michigan residents also voted to amend their state’s constitution to protect abortion rights. Initiatives appear on the ballot after existence The Republican-led challenge on the basis of including concerns about modification spacing and format.
In a move that could support an effort by abortion rights groups to overturn two abortion bans, Kentucky voters rejected proposed amendments The state’s constitution explicitly states that it has no right to an abortion. Such an amendment would likely have hinder efforts to overturn Kentucky’s two abortion bans.
Those laws went into effect following a decision by the US Supreme Court this summer that cut off access to abortion in the commonwealth. Abortion rights advocates are challenging those laws and verbally scheduled arguments before the Kentucky Supreme Court in about a week. In a statement, officials with the Kentucky chapter of Planned Parenthood pledged to continue their legal battle.
In Montana, votes are still being counted on what anti-abortion groups describe as a “Born of Life” measure that would require health care providers to treatment for infants born alive at any stage of development, including after attempting an abortion. Reproductive rights groups, who oppose the initiative, note that Montana law prohibits contagion.
In an effort to harness the energy unleashed by this summer’s Supreme Court decision, Democrats and abortion rights groups have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to promote pro-abortion candidates. abortion rights. Abortion rights advocates also raise funds for their opponents in vote-measurement campaigns in states including Kentucky and Michigan.
