MI Group Asks Court To Place Abortion Rights Proposal On Nov. Ballot

MICHIGAN — A group asked the Michigan Supreme Court Tuesday to place an abortion rights proposal on the November ballot after it was rejected by election officials in a deadlocked vote.

The League of Women Voters of Michigan led a group of 20 organizations in filing the brief, which argued The Michigan Board of State Canvassers overstepped their authority by citing the content of the proposal as opposed to certifying the signatures.

"The Board of State Canvassers’ responsibility is solely to determine whether the proposal received the number of required signatures to qualify for the ballot, and it’s clear Reproductive Freedom for All had more than enough signatures," Co-President of the League of Women Voters of Michigan Christina Schlitt said. "We are asking the Michigan Supreme Court to remedy this unjustified attempt at blocking the proposal and order the Board it to place on the November ballot."

The Reproductive Freedom for All petition was rejected from the November ballot after two Republicans on the Elections Board sided with challengers, who argued the proposal wasn't written in plain English and didn't have proper spacing between words.

But the group argued in the brief that those challenges are legislative and the Elections Board has no authority to question the proposal's content, including its words and spacing. In addition, the group argued there is no word spacing requirement for a Michigan Constitutional Amendment.

"Nowhere is the Board expressly statutorily authorized to examine the content of the proposed constitutional amendment, be that its words, spacing or anything else," the brief states.

The court would have to make up its mind rather quickly, since all ballot proposals must be turned in to the Secretary of State's office by Friday.

More than 750,000 Michiganders signed the Reproductive Freedom for All petition, which would nullify a 1931 state law banning abortion and guarantee the right to make decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including birth control, abortion, prenatal care and childbirth.

If the proposal is placed on the November ballot and passed by Michiganders, the petition could still face other challenges, such as parental consent. In other words, the status surrounding abortion in Michigan will ultimately come down to the state's Supreme Court.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also filed a lawsuit earlier this year asking the court to recognize a right to an abortion in the state's constitution under bodily integrity provisions.

Abortion remains legal in the state after an Oakland County judge blocked county prosecutors from criminally charging doctors who perform abortions while further legal proceedings play out.

A voting rights group asked the Michigan Supreme Court last week to place a proposal expanding voting rights on the November ballot after election officials deadlocked in that vote too.