Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • The 19th Explains: Why the nursing shortage isn’t going away anytime soon

        Mariel Padilla · September 23
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights

        Kate Sosin · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why baby formula is still hard to find months after the shortage

        Mariel Padilla · December 1
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Election workers believe in our system — and want everyone else to, too

        Barbara Rodriguez, Jennifer Gerson · November 8
      • Voter ID laws stand between transgender people, women and the ballot box

        Barbara Rodriguez · October 14
      • Emily’s List expands focus on diverse candidates and voting rights ahead of midterm elections

        Errin Haines · August 30

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News from reporters who represent you and your communities.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Abortion rights demonstrators gather outside the Michigan State Capitol during a
Abortion rights demonstrators gather outside the Michigan State Capitol during a "Restore Roe" rally in Lansing, on September 7, 2022. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

Abortion

Michigan court rules in favor of putting abortion rights petition on November ballot

Abortion advocates had requested action from the Michigan Supreme Court after an elections board deadlocked on the issue.

Barbara Rodriguez

State Politics and Voting Reporter

Barbara Rodriguez portrait

Published

2022-09-08 16:17
4:17
September 8, 2022
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a petition over whether to add a constitutional amendment expanding abortion rights must be on the ballot this fall.

In a 5-2 decision, the state’s high court directed an election board to certify a proposed amendment from the group Reproductive Freedom for All, which had submitted more than 750,000 signatures to get the question on the ballot, a record.

The decision is a win for abortion advocates. Darci McConnell, communication director for the group, said in a statement that it affirmed that voters had understood what they were signing, which had become part of a challenge to the petition.

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

“We are energized and motivated now more than ever to restore the protections that were lost under Roe,” she said in a statement.

Last week, a four-person elections board deadlocked on whether to certify the ballot, throwing the issue into limbo. The two Republicans on the Michigan Board of Canvassers voted against certification; the two Democrats voted in support.

The ballot measure would guarantee the right to an abortion up until fetal viability and restrict the state’s ability to regulate abortion after that point if the health of the pregnant person is in danger. It would also protect care related to a pregnancy, including birth control, according to Reproductive Freedom for All. The petition signatures were submitted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights, though organizers had been collecting signatures even before a leak of the draft was made public.

  • Previous Coverage:
    A child hugs their parent as abortion rights activists gather for a demonstration.
  • Previous Coverage: Will an abortion petition be on the ballot in Michigan in November? It’s up to a court.

Citizens to Support MI Women and Children, a coalition of anti-abortion groups, had argued to the board of canvassers that the ballot measure had spacing and formatting problems that rendered some of the proposed language unreadable.

“The board of canvassers did the right thing by refusing to put this on the ballot because it is unprecedented for something with this many errors to be placed on the ballot,” said Christen Pollo, a spokesperson for the group, to The 19th before the state supreme court ruling.

In their Thursday ruling, the supreme court said the ballot measure petition had fulfilled “all statutory form requirements,” and added that the board of canvassers “has a clear legal duty to certify the petition.”

Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack’s opinion in particular was critical that two people on the board of canvassers who attempted to stop certification of the petition despite anti-abortion groups not providing proof of any signer claiming confusion by the limited-spacing sections of the proposal.

“They would disenfranchise millions of Michiganders not because they believe the many thousands of Michiganders who signed the proposal were confused by it, but because they think they have identified a technicality that allows them to do so, a game of gotcha gone very bad,” she wrote. “What a sad marker of the times.”

Reproductive Freedom for All — a coalition that includes Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan and the ACLU of Michigan — said that the errors were caused by a printing issue and that copying and pasting the petition shows proper spacing. The group held a rally outside of the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday to talk about what is at stake. Separately, abortion advocates filed letters of support to the supreme court.

Citizens to Support MI Women and Children indicated in a social media posting Thursday after the ruling that it would now work to have the ballot measure defeated on the November 8 ballot. The group described the text of the proposal as “confusing, radical language” that will create “an unlimited right to abortion.”

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who supports the ballot measure, held a reproductive health roundtable in Detroit hours before the ruling. She told the group gathered that people should have the right to vote on the issue.

“Can a woman make a decision about her own body? That’s the question, and now we’re not even sure if we’ll get the chance to vote on whether or not we have that right,” she said, and then referred to the Republicans on the elections board. “Two men are the reason for that.”

Stories by experienced reporters you can trust and relate to.

Delivered directly to your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Whitmer later told The 19th that a decision favoring the ballot measure would show that the court is following the law.

“Any board that was doing its ministerial duty would have put it on the ballot already,” she said.

The board of canvassers is expected to meet Friday to finalize the ballot measure and a separate petition that would expand early voting in the state.

Abortion has become a defining issue in Michigan, where Whitmer is seeking reelection and facing a challenge from Republican Tudor Dixon, who has said she does not support abortion or exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Dixon, whose campaign has not responded to requests for an interview, has said separately that she supports parental consent laws around abortion.

For several months, Whitmer has sought to legally strike down a 1931 law that would ban most abortions in the state and was triggered by the end of federal abortion rights. On Wednesday, a lower court struck down the law, which had not been in effect. At the roundtable, Whitmer celebrated the decision over the 1931 law but added: “I am not pacified because this is not over.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Help sustain what we started

Your monthly investment is critical to our sustainability as a nonprofit newsroom.

Donate Today

Become a member

Up Next

A close up photo of an unrecognizable mid adult female soldier as she puts her hands together and leans forward in her seat.

Abortion

The 19th Explains: How pregnant veterans may access abortions despite state restrictions

In loosening its rules on abortion, the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to adopt a policy more in line with the Department of Defense.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram