State level efforts to restrict abortion access met mixed fates Tuesday. Voters in North Dakota and Colorado rejected so-called “personhood” measures, anti-abortion referendums that would have granted fetuses new rights, while Tennessee voters approved a ballot initiative that will give the state’s lawmakers to more power to restrict and regulate abortion access for women.
Tennessee's Amendment 1 changes the state constitution to assert that nothing in it “secures or protects a right to abortion." It is a response to a 2001 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling that said abortion was included within the state’s constitutional guarantee of a right to privacy, which prevented many of the abortion restriction passed recently in neighboring from taking hold in Tennessee. Considering the state’s conservative legislature – the ballot needed a two-thirds legislative supermajority to be placed on Tuesday’s ballot – it is believed Tennessee will soon enact similar restrictions – or even stricter, as the amendment allows lawmakers “enact, amend or repeal statutes regarding abortion,” including pregnancies “resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother."
READ:
A Tale of Two 'Personhood' Amendments ]Like Tennessee’s amendment, North Dakota’s failed measure would have also changed language of the state’s constitution in order to expand abortion restrictions. By asserting, “the inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development,” supporters say it will prevent state courts from striking down abortion restrictions passed by lawmakers. Opponents say it could have outlawed abortion outright, however, given that the state is very conservative, opponents stressed the other effects it allegedly could have had concerning certain fertility treatments, end-of-life decisions and types of contraceptives. The state currently has only one abortion clinic and some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country.
“North Dakotans have rejected this dangerous amendment that could have banned essential reproductive health care services like contraception, safe abortion and fertility treatments. The voters have sent a loud and clear message: Women know what’s best for their lives, their health and their futures," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a statement. "It’s time for North Dakota politicians to remember that message when they return to the capital for a new session in January.”
Colorado’s "personhood" initiative was rejected handily by voters for the third time in Colorado, having been defeated in 2008 and 2010. This year’s version narrowed the measure’s scope to apply only to the state’s criminal code and its Wrongful Death Act, changing the definition of child and person to include unborn fetuses. It was framed as a move to protect pregnant women from crimes that result in miscarriage. However opponents said it would also outlaw abortion – a possibility the anti-abortion group that sponsored Amendment 67 did not deny – and could also restrict certain contraceptives and fertility treatments. While it was expected to fail Tuesday, abortion rights groups admit they had to work harder reaching out to voters this year than with the state’s past personhood measures.
“Despite backers trying to hide their real intent with deceptive language this year, voters saw through this gambit and Amendment 67 met the same defeat as its predecessors in 2008 and 2010,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue in a statement. “Hopefully the third time is the charm, and opponents of women’s rights will learn their lesson and stop trying to restrict the freedom of Colorado women.”
