First Kansas, Next Michigan and Beyond as Abortion Ballot Measures Spread

[Demovictory9]

First Kansas, Next Michigan and Beyond as Abortion Ballot Measures Spread
Democrats are hoping ballot measures on abortion rights will drive up voter turnout. They’re looking to Michigan as a test run.


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But many abortion rights advocates already are looking past November to 2024, considering possible ballot measures in Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa and, money and political muscle permitted, the presidential battlegrounds of Florida and Arizona.

Such measures would be designed to secure policy changes in states where Republican legislatures are in opposition. But they also could have political ramifications not seen since Republicans successfully used ballot initiatives on gay marriage to energize Christian conservatives during President George W. Bush’s re-election run in 2004.

Republicans may also revive that playbook, particularly in battlegrounds with active anti-abortion groups. But, for now, Democrats appear most eager to push the issue amid early signs that abortion is motivating their voters.

Polls show that a majority of Americans overall — and a slightly larger share of women — disapprove of the court’s decision. A Pew Research poll in July found that 57 percent of adults disapproved of the decision, 43 percent of them strongly. A Marquette Law School poll later that month found that approval ratings for the Supreme Court itself were on a steep downward slide, to 38 percent from 44 percent in May.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/us/politics/michigan-abortion-referendum.html