Michigan’s constitutional amendment seeking to enshrine abortion rights blocked from November ballot

Reproductive Freedom for All submitted more than 750,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office in July. In its staff report the Bureau of Elections estimated the petition had 596,379 valid signatures — about 146,000 more than the minimum signatures required.

Opponents, however, challenged the proposed amendment over the petition’s lack of spacing between words. During public debate Wednesday morning, those opposed argued that the amendment is vague, sloppily written and error-ridden, and thus should be rejected from being placed on the ballot.

In its staff report, the Bureau noted that Michigan election law is “silent on the amount of space that must be between letters and words in a petition.” It made no recommendation “as to the merits of these legal arguments as they pertain to the substance of the petition.”

The Board of State Canvassers’ two Democrats voted to certify the petition while the board’s two Republicans, including the chair, voted against certification, agreeing with opponents’ objections to the amendment’s formatting. The RFFA plans to file a request for judicial intervention to the state Supreme Court “expeditiously,” spokeswoman Darci McConnell said.

Despite the deadlock vote, the board designated the measure as Proposal 22-3 and also approved the proposal language as how it would appear on the ballot if certified.

The constitutional amendment would establish an “individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make and carry out all decisions about pregnancy,” according to the 100-word summary.

If approved, the state constitution would be amended to allow the state to “prohibit abortion after fetal viability unless needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health” and “prohibit prosecution of an individual, or a person helping a pregnant individual, for exercising rights established by this amendment; and invalidate all state laws that conflict with this amendment.”

The ballot initiative took increased urgency following the publication of a US Supreme Court draft opinion in May that would overturn Roe v Wade. The high court in June ultimately decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion nationwide.

Michigan’s pre-Roe ban — a 1931 abortion ban, which was invalidated by the decision in Roe v. Wade but remained on the state’s books — has been blocked by state courts.

There are also pending requests before the state Supreme Court asking the court to declare definitively that the pre-Roe ban violates the state’s constitution.