DETROIT — The eyes of the nation were on Michigan Tuesday night over its reproductive rights ballot initiative that would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
With 42% of estimated votes counted, election results Tuesday night showed Proposal 3 gaining the support of 54% of Michigan voters.
In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer that struck down a longstanding Roe v. Wade ruling that required abortion access nationwide, the initiative emerged as a contentious statewide issue at the ballot box Tuesday.
The proposal would create a right to "reproductive freedom" in the state Constitution, which would override a 1931 state law banning abortion that would be in effect if it weren't held up in legal battles. That right under Prop 3 would encompass all decisions related to pregnancy and prohibits infringement except in the case of a "compelling state interest."
Anti-abortion opponents claim its approval would wipe away decades of laws and restrictions mounted around legal abortion. Proposal 3 generated a record-setting $65 million in combined spending by the campaign committees supporting and opposing the measure.
The ballot initiative would add language to the Michigan Constitution allowing for abortion up to fetal viability, which usually is considered to be around 24 weeks but is defined in the language as when a child can survive outside the womb without "extraordinary medical measures."
The Legislature would be allowed to regulate abortion after fetal viability, with an exception for cases in which a health care professional deemed it necessary "to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual."
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