Elections Board in Michigan votes to leave abortion question off November ballot, appeal expected

The Board of Canvassers in Michigan voted this week not to include a ballot measure in the midterms that would ask voters to decide whether an abortion trigger law would take effect in the state.

The four-member panel voted 2-2 to leave the abortion question off this November’s ballot. In order to include the measure, at least three members of the panel would have had to vote yes. The votes were along party lines, with the two Republican members voting against putting the abortion question on the ballot, and the two Democratic members voting to include it. The Democrat members say they plan to appeal the decision in the left-leaning Michigan Supreme Court.

If the abortion question makes it onto the November ballot, it would be the second state-wide referendum on reproductive rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Earlier this summer, Kansas voters overwhelmingly elected not to strengthen anti-abortion laws in the state, dealing a blow to Republicans.

Since Roe was overturned in June, Democrats across the country have seen an increase in voter numbers – particularly women. According to Bloomberg, women have outnumbered men in new voter registrations in several battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia.

The Michigan ballot measure being disputed would do away with a 91-year old state law that bans abortions except in cases where it would save the mother’s life.

The appeal will be lodged by The Reproductive Freedom for All initiative, which originally pushed to include the measure on the November ballot. The 1931 law has been blocked by state judges, but pro-lifers hoped the law would be put into effect immediately after the Supreme Court issued its ruling overturning Roe. The appeal is expected to be filed in the state Supreme Court in the coming days.