Reproductive rights will be on the ballot November 8 in Michigan.

sεяεηιτλ wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
They’re working on it.

I know. and i'm stunned. This one is hitting me hard. I'm getting very very angry about it.

LANSING — Supporters of Michigan’s abortion rights ballot initiative have collected nearly 800,000 signatures — almost double the required number of eligible signatures — ahead of a Monday deadline to qualify for the November ballot, campaign co-chair and Ann Arbor Councilwoman Linh Song announced.

Mark Brewer, an election law attorney working for the campaign who has decades of experience in ballot initiatives, did not confirm the signature count when reached by Bridge Michigan.

If it’s accurate, he said, it would set the record for signatures collected by any Michigan ballot campaign.

“I’m not aware of any ballot proposal which has gathered anywhere near that number of signatures,” he told Bridge. “If it’s true, it’s an extraordinary accomplishment.”

Jake from State Farm wrote:Over 750,000 signatures on the petitions. Isn't this where the legislature steps in and makes it law according to this:

Michigan is one of 18 states that allows for indirect statutory initiative. This allows ballot proponents to submit a proposed law to the legislature if they collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. If the legislature does not choose to approve the law, the ballot question is submitted to the voters. If they do approve it within 40 days, it becomes law without a vote of the people or approval of the governor (it is not subject to a gubernatorial veto).

“We had more than 730,000 people who read, signed and understood what they signed. The board was supposed to do one thing today and affirm that we had the signatures, their own bureau said we did.

Supporters of another initiative that didn’t make the ballot Wednesday — a measure to expand voting, including adding ballot drop boxes — also are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Groups have seven business days to appeal and the ballot must be finalized by Sept. 9.

Jake from State Farm wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:Somewhere I thought I had read, maybe during the 2020 election certification, that the BOC doesn't have the power to vote on wording or effects of petitions if passed.

It's here under PETITIONS - Staff Report - Reproductive Freedom For All

https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/bsc

Staff makes no recommendation as to the merits of these legal arguments as they pertain to the substance of the petition. Courts in Michigan have found that the board’s duty is limited to determining whether the form of the petition complies with the statutory requirements and whether there are sufficient signatures to warrant certification of the proposal. Citizens for Prot of Marriage v Bd of State Canvassers, 263 Mich App 487, 492 (2004), citing Ferency v Secretary of State, 409 Mich 569 (1980); Council About Parochiaid v Secretary of State, 403 Mich 396 (1978); Leininger v Secretary of State, 316 Mich 644 (1947). The duties of the Board of State Canvassers are “purely ministerial and clerical.” McLeod v State Bd of Canvassers, 304 Mich 120 (1942).6

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:It also confuses me that they are going against the advice of their staff, seems like they are out on their own sinking ship by themselves.

Looks like a political stunt to gin up the Republican voters to me.

all the GOP has is whining, faux outrage, and corruption. I don't think they really need to gin anyone up.. the christian knuckle-scrapers are going to vote no matter what. What decent folks who love their families and respect democracy need to do is to stay engaged and vote.

There are more of us than there are of them - we just need to stay engaged and drown out the noise. The GOP is relying on decent people just becoming so disgusted/disillusioned with the system that they stay home.

Rick Saunders wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:Judge strikes down 1931 Michigan law criminalizing abortion

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-michigan-constitutions-supreme-court-707465a9ec614d3c1d7599b6843c3189?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_6

edit - also can across this article on how most human embryos die after conception, which creates issues for the "the soul is created at conception" side.

https://theconversation.com/most-human-embryos-naturally-die-after-conception-restrictive-abortion-laws-fail-to-take-this-embryo-loss-into-account-187904

This has been known for a long time as well as the fact that ~ 8-15 % of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. If you are going to call a fetus a person from a fundamentalist religious perspective (that is anyone's prerogative) and call Planned Parenthood a baby killer then you also have to accept that the deity is the number one baby killer. If you are going to give the same personhood to a blastocyst, well then the competition is not close.

Jake from State Farm wrote:

Rick Saunders wrote:

This has been known for a long time as well as the fact that ~ 8-15 % of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. If you are going to call a fetus a person from a fundamentalist religious perspective (that is anyone's prerogative) and call Planned Parenthood a baby killer then you also have to accept that the deity is the number one baby killer. If you are going to give the same personhood to a blastocyst, well then the competition is not close.

They would just come back with "it's god's plan" if you accused their invisible leader of something like that.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:SC puts the ballot proposal back on.

Republican Justice Elizabeth Clement joined the court’s four Democrats in upholding the proposal.