Good News! Voters in Three States Defeat Abortion Restrictions

by Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

Voters in California, Colorado, and South Dakota sent a strong message that they will not allow abortion to be further restricted in their states. All three states rejected anti-choice initiatives that were on the ballot on November 4.

Here’s how the votes played out:

• Coloradans defeated an attempt to amend the state constitution to define a “person” as “any human being from the moment of fertilization” and give constitutional rights to fertilized eggs. The initiative would not only have outlawed abortion, but also certain forms of birth control, in vitro fertilization and stem cell research. Voters defeated this initiative overwhelmingly, by a vote of 73 to 27 percent.

• South Dakota voters once again said “no” to an attempt to ban abortion. They voted 55.2 to 44.8 percent to defeat an initiative that would have effectively eliminated women’s right to abortion in their state. The initiative was intended as a challenge to Roe v. Wade and its proponents have already promised to try again in 2010.

• In California, voters defeated an attempt to require teens to notify their parents before getting an abortion. The vote to defeat the initiative was 52.6 to 47.4 percent. This is the third time in four years parental notification has been defeated by voters, and California reproductive rights advocates have vowed to continue their work to protect teen safety as many times as the proponents bring the initiative back.

We thank voters in all of these states for standing up to defend reproductive choice for women and teens.