The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights must appear on the November ballot, despite typographical issues that opponents hoped would derail the measure.
The rulingthe court’s first dealing with abortion since the US Supreme Court reversed the national constitutional right to an abortion afforded under Roe v. Wade, means Michiganders will have the chance to explicitly enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution when they cast their ballots this fall.
By a 5-2 decision, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the Board of State Canvassers must certify the proposed constitutional amendment despite the alleged typographical issues. Chief Justice Bridget McCormack chastised board members and abortion rights opponents who suggested the space between words in a measure that garnered more than 750,000 signatures should be a fatal flaw.
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“The challengers have not produced a single signer who claims to have been confused by the limited-spacing sections in the full text portion of the proposal,” McCormack wrote.
“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,” the judge added
Justices Richard Bernstein, Elizabeth Clement, Megan Cavanagh and Elizabeth Welch joined McCormack in the majority. All but Clement were nominated by Democrats. Republican-nominated Justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano voted against putting the measure on the ballot.
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Both Zahra and Viviano entertained the argument from anti-abortion rights advocates and the Republicans on the board, agreeing the seemingly small spaces between words made the proposed constitutional amendment illegible.
The court needed to make its decision before Friday, when local clerks must finalize the candidates and issues appearing on the ballot. The General Election is Nov. 8, but absentee ballots go out to overseas and deployed voters on Sept. 24.
“We are energized and now more than ever to restore the protections that were lost under Roe,” said Darcion McConnell, communications director for the Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA) campaign. “This affirms that more than 730,000 voters read, signed, and understood the petitions and that the frivolous claims from the opposition are simply designed to distract from our effort to keep the abortion rights we had under Roe for nearly 50 years.”
Opponents vowed to take the fight to the voters.
“It falls to now voters to reject this mistake-ridden, extreme proposal on Election Day. We are confident that a majority will say No to Proposal 3,” said Christen Pollo, a spokesperson for a coalition opposing the amendment called Citizens to Support MI Women and Children.
The question of abortion access is an increasingly galvanizing force in this election cycle. After Roe’s reversal, a 1931 Michigan state law criminalizing most abortions in theory became enforceable again. But on Wednesday, Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher ruled that law is unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. It marked a win for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, which filed a lawsuit before Roe was overturned seeking to have the state law nullified.
Abortion rights opponents are expected to appeal that ruling, but it’s unlikely any final court decision could come before Election Day.
The state’s highest court could take up a separate lawsuit, filed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, that also argues the ban is unconstitutional and that the state Constitution already protects the right to an abortion. But the Michigan Supreme Court has declined to formally accept the case for months, despite pleas from the governor.
Even if the Michigan Supreme Court took up either case and ruled in favor of Whitmer or Planned Parenthood, the proposed constitutional amendment would amount to a more-permanent right to abortion in Michigan.
Previously:Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to abortion
More: Michigan’s abortion amendment: Here’s what it will and won’t do if approved
A slew of abortion rights supporters formally asked the court to put the proposed amendment on the ballot, including University of Michigan law professors, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
A majority of Michiganders, and most people across the country, support some level of abortion access, according to polling before Roe’s reversal and since the court’s June decision. Democratic candidates in Michigan are campaigning extensively on the issue, promising to fight for abortion rights.
The inclusion of the abortion amendment on the ballot could have a substantial impact on other races this fall. While opponents of abortion rights will vote against the measure, polling and the level of support for the proposal demonstrated by the most signatures ever collected for such a ballot initiative likely bode well for turnout among abortion rights supporters.
Contact Dave Boucher: [email protected] or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism