Michigan Supreme Court approves proposal to put abortion rights petition on November ballot

[demmiblue]

Source: WXYZ/ABC

(WXYZ) — Michigan voters will likely see abortion rights on the ballot after the State Supreme Court voted 5-2 in favor of directing the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to approve the petition.

The ruling came down on Thursday evening, and the Board of State Canvassers have a meeting scheduled Friday where they will likely approve the petition.

Last week, the board voted 2-2 on the petition, which had enough signatures to go to the ballot, after two Republican board members voted against putting it on the ballot. The two Democratic board members voted for it.

Many of those against the proposal argued against abortion but also asked the board to vote against the proposal because of typographical errors. Two groups earlier this month filed challenges to the form, citing minimal spacing throughout the text of the language, and another group argued a petition cannot insert nonexistent words in the Constitution.


Read more: https://www.wxyz.com/news/michigan-supreme-court-approves-proposal-to-put-abortion-rights-petition-on-november-ballot

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[multigraincracker]

1. It'll be great to watch

Tudor tiptoe into the sunset.

[wryter2000]

2. Should bring out Dems to vote

Right?

[demmiblue]

5. Absolutely!

[Meadowoak]

6. Expect a blue tsunami in Michigan on Nov 8.

[demmiblue]

3. Justice Bernstein FTW:

Chief Justice McCormack, a Democrat, blasted board members who chose to reject certification.

But in his dissent Justice Zahra, a Republican, says "as a wordsmith...I find it an unremarkable proposition that spaces between words matter."

Justice Bernstein responds to Zahra's "wordsmith" quote in a spicy footnote: "As a blind person who is
also a wordsmith and a member of this Court, I find it unremarkable to note that the lack of visual spacing has never mattered much to me."

Link to tweet

Ha!

[DownriverDem]

18. Justice Bernstein

has a great whit. His adventures are amazing. He drove a car a couple of weeks ago.

[pfitz59]

4. This sort of voted needs to be on every state's ballot

Kansas paved the way. Should bring out all Dems and fence-sitters.

[Meadowoak]

7. Roe isn't in jeopardy in every state. Only about half of the states.

[BOSSHOG]

15. The popular vote was what conservatives wanted

The “value them both” crowd in Kansas thought that abortion would be outlawed in the state because the people will decide. It’ll be a slam dunk victory for the zealots. Then the people voted.

[Novara]

8. It was a fucking ridiculous reason to reject the ballot proposals in the first place

You know they're really reaching when they cite "spaces between words" as a reason why a ballot proposal that netted way more than enough valid signatures is rejected.

The fact that this state allows a board to override the will of the people who gathered enough valid signatures to get a proposal on the ballot is massively fucked up.

Here's another article: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/supreme-court-clears-abortion-early-voting-proposals-michigan-ballot

Do expect a massive blue tidal wave from Michigan this fall.

[WestMichRad]

12. And that's pretty much exactly what the court said.

The board of canvassers (who rejected the initiative) had no authority to reject the proposal on those grounds.

[llmart]

14. The GOP is grasping at straws all over this country.

They've got nothing to offer in the way of proposals, ideas, solutions to problems, etc. so they had to come up with something.

Is there a law against bad formatting? Asking for a friend.

I hope they get trounced in November.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. We should have proof-read the thing. We should have known Repugs would nitpick the thing.

There's precedence, we should have learned.

https://www.scotxblog.com/writing/how-big-is-14-point-font-that-nerdy-question-is-now-before-the-michigan-supreme-court/

[Samrob]

9. Be aware. This is the very kind of ruling the MAGAs want to be able to overrule by state legislature

If you love this country, warts and all, you should not vote for any GOP candidate at any level.

[KS Toronado]

10. "Ifinditanunremarkablepropositionthatspacesbetweenwordsmatter."

PeopleCanReadFasterWithoutSpaces,PlusItSavesPaperAndHardDriveSpace,NowYouKnowHe'sAnIdiot.

[BOSSHOG]

16. Youstopthatrightnowor I'llassignaspecialmastertoyourpost

[KS Toronado]

19. BringhimonandIshallendeavortoperseverefromthemastersattacks.

WhosaysyoucanthavefunonDU?

[Me.]

11. Fabulous

[DownriverDem]

13. Folks worked hard

to get all the signatures. They will be working hard to get folks to vote in November. We are very motivated.

[FakeNoose]

17. Proposal 22-3 on Michigan's November ballot

"Proposal 22-3

A proposal to amend the state constitution to establish new individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make all decisions about pregnancy; allow state to prohibit abortion in some cases; and forbid prosecution of individuals exercising established right

This proposed constitutional amendment would:

Establish new individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make and carry out all decisions about pregnancy, such as prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion, miscarriage management, and infertility;

Allow state to prohibit abortion after fetal viability unless needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health;

Forbid state discrimination in enforcement of this right; 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.

Should this proposal be adopted?
[ ] YES
[ ] NO"

It couldn't be simpler: vote YES

Even if your personal religious beliefs preclude the use of abortion as a way of ending a pregnancy, you still need to vote YES. Because not everyone in your state was raised with the same beliefs as you. You choose to follow YOUR beliefs, allow others choose to follow THEIRS.

[BOSSHOG]

20. In Kansas you had to vote NO to do the right thing

Conservatives had their proposal confusingly worded and scheduled it to be voted on during a primary election. Of course their proposal had no primary opponent and seldom do dems have to vote in a primary election. AND, the Catholic Church of Kansas spent more then 4 million tax exempt dollars to codify a religious belief. And the gop legislature had corresponding legislation to seal the ban abortion deal. And then the people voted, just like conservatives planned it.

YO GO MICHIGAN

Sammy the Rat Alito, can you hear us?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

21. I'm kinda confused about this line.

Allow state to prohibit abortion after fetal viability unless needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health;

Does this give the state the right to step in and prohibit an abortion if the fetus is viable?

[Tumbulu]

23. This has been the case since Roe

as after fetal viability it is more dangerous to have an abortion than to give birth.

In the Roe decision the Justices examined all the major religions practiced within the US and found no agreement whatsoever about when each separate religion believed the soul entered the body of the developing embryo or fetus during development. The range was from conception to first breath after birth ( actually one has it at one year after birth). With the main stream Christian denominations primarily believing this occurred at “ quickening” which is about 18-22 weeks.

They then ruled that the government therefore cannot weigh in on any of those matters, since there was no religious agreement anyway.

But since up until the third trimester ( also fetal viability) it is safer to have an abortion than to produce and give birth to a child, that the government cannot force someone to do something that increases their chances of injury or death. Only after the third trimester can it be regulated, because it is more dangerous than giving birth to the child.

The regulations all used to come from the medical associations. It remains true that abortions at this stage are dangerous and the idea that people have elective abortions at that stage is preposterous. But lies seem to be their MO.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

25. Ok, so this is nothing new and nothing to worry about.

Thank you for that detailed explanation, I learned a lot.

[Tumbulu]

27. That is how I see it

as just using the language from Roe that has worked for 49 years.

And you are welcome. I took a Constitutional Law class in 1977 and the Roe decision was the last one that we studied. Back then you had to have the right to visit law libraries to read the decisions and arguments. It was one of the most interesting courses I ever took. And the depth of the considerations of Roe were so fascinating.

But I went back to science and ag.

Thank you for the kind words.

[DemocraticPatriot]

22. Excellent, speaking as a citizen of Michigan....

The right of women to control their own bodies is now safe in this state...


While there was a "permanent injunction" issued against the ancient law which presumed to outlaw abortion in this state, better that the ballot initiative shall be on the ballot.

The objections by the Republicans which deadlocked and thus defeated (temporarily) the advancement of this proposal to the ballot were VERY OBVIOUSLY "POLITICAL" and illegitimate.

Citizens of Michigan, make sure you vote for the Democratic candidates for the state supreme court---

Richard Bernstein and Kyra Bolden !!!

(Make a note of it, since state SC candidates are on the non-partisan portion of the ballot!)

[demmiblue]

26. It's official:

Link to tweet