Voters have approved a ballot proposal that will amend the Michigan Constitution to codify abortion rights in the state, NBC News projects.
The proposal, an initiative by Reproductive Freedom for All, will legalize abortions and prevent people receiving or performing abortions from being criminally or civilly charged in Michigan. It was introduced in the state earlier this year in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling from 1973 that protected the right to abortions nationwide.
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The Associated Press had not yet projected the passage of Proposal 3, as of about 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Here’s the latest vote count:
Votes
%
Yes
No
(4,690 / 4,690)
More: Proposal 3 passes in Michigan: When will it take effect? What’s next?
Once that ruling was overturned, individual states were left to regulate abortion within their jurisdictions. Many states banned abortion altogether. In Michigan, a law from the 1930s is still on the books and bans most abortions.
Several lawsuits were filed in an effort to block enforcement of Michigan’s nearly century-old abortion ban. Before the Nov. 8 election, one lawsuit successfully blocked the acting state attorney general from prosecuting abortion, while another lawsuit successfully blocked county prosecutors from enforcing the ban -- albeit temporarily.
Now that Michigan voters have approved a constitutional amendment that will protect the right to an abortion, the ongoing legal battles across the state will become moot, as the amendment will now be considered law.
According to the Michigan Constitution’s Article XII § 2, a proposed constitutional amendment that is approved by the majority of voters will take effect 45 days after the date of the election in which the proposal passed. This means that the constitutional amendment should take effect by Dec. 23.
It will afford pregnant people the same rights they had under Roe v. Wade.
Click here to read the entire text of Michigan’s Proposal 3.
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