The right to abortion will be enshrined in the state constitutions of California and Vermont, after voters in those states overwhelmingly approved the proposals that were voted on in the midterm elections.
In California, “Yes” received 68% of the vote and in Vermont it received 77.4% of the vote.
A similar proposal in Michigan goes ahead with 53.1% of the “Yes” votes when accounting for 68% of all ballots.
The enshrinement in state constitutions will protect the right to abortion in the event that national bans are passed, after the Supreme Court dismantled the protection that had existed since 1973 in Roe v. Wade.
In Kentucky, the “No” continues on constitutional amendment proposal number 2 that seeks to deny the right to abortion. 86% of the votes are counted and “No” gets 52.6% of the votes, in a conservative state where Republican Senator Rand Paul was re-elected tonight.
Also in Montana, voters seem to have rejected the 131st legislative referendum, which is losing at a time when 63% of the total votes are being counted. The “No” goes ahead 53.7% against 46.3%.
Abortion was one of the main issues discussed in the campaign leading up to the midterm elections, the results of which are still being published across the country.
In speeches given by congressmen and Democratic candidates at the Hollywood Palladium, where the Democratic Election Night event is taking place, he referred to abortion as one of the main battlefronts for the next mandates.
“We will fight to protect a woman’s right to make decisions about her body and her future,” said Alex Padilla, who was elected a senator from California. These remarks received the largest applause from the audience on a night of lukewarm reactions, as Democrats wait with anticipation to see if they will lose control of Congress.
Congressman Ted Lieu, who was re-elected to California’s 33rd district, also said the issue galvanized voters and helped stem the “red wave” that analysts had predicted.
“Republicans want to criminalize abortion across the country,” Lieu said, referring to plans suggested by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who was also re-elected from California’s 23rd district.
The abortion issue, which was a federal right until the Supreme Court overturned it in June of this year, may have spurred greater turnout from younger voters and suburban women.
This will be considered when the results are fully known, which may still take some time due to the volume of postal votes.
Source: TSF
