Officials in Colorado and South Dakota have certified proposed changes that would enshrine abortion access in their state constitutions to appear on the November ballot.
South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson, a Republican, said in a statement Thursday night that her office had validated the petition for the ballot measure, finding that organizers behind the effort had filed more than the required number of signatures for it to qualify.
The placement of the ballot measure can still be challenged before June 17th.
And in Colorado, the office of Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold issued a warning On Friday, it will also clear the way for an amendment that would formally enshrine access to abortion in the Colorado Constitution to appear on the ballot this year.
Constitutional amendments to enshrine the right to abortion will now appear on general election ballots in at least four states, including Florida and Maryland. In New York, a judge blocked the posting of a proposed amendment on the November ballot this month, but the decision is under appeal and organizers anticipate the measure will appear on the ballot. Organizers in six other states are trying to do the same.
Organizers with Dakotans For Health, the group behind the proposed amendment in South Dakota, celebrated the achievement.
“Two long years after we began, the South Dakota Secretary of State certified today that the people of South Dakota, not Pierre’s politicians, will be the ones who decide whether to restore Roe v. Wade. Dakotans For Health President Rick Weiland said in a statement. “If there is anyone out there still wondering whether abortion rights will be on the ballot in South Dakota this fall, today is your answer.”
The group’s proposal would make abortion legal in all situations in the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow state “regulation” of abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy, but such regulation “must be reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” The amendment would allow “regulation or prohibition” by the state in the third trimester, except in cases where a doctor determines that the care is necessary to “preserve the life or health” of the woman.
If passed, the amendment would effectively undo the state’s near-total ban on abortion, which went back into effect after Roe v. Wade. Wade was repealed in 2022. The law, which abortion advocates say is among the toughest in the U.S., bans all abortions except when necessary to save the woman’s life.
While abortion rights advocates have had success with ballot measures in conservative states like Kansas and Kentucky since the overturn of Roe, South Dakota presents a particularly difficult challenge. The ballot measure will need to win a simple majority to pass in a state that Donald Trump won by 26 points in 2020.
Organizers encountered fierce resistance to their efforts, including legal challenges. But the group earlier this month submitted more than 55,000 signatures from registered voters in the state — far more than the 35,000 needed to move forward with placing the proposal on the ballot.
State officials said Friday that 85 percent of them — or just over 46,000 — were deemed valid, meaning organizers ended up with 11,000 more signatures than needed.
In Colorado, the reproductive rights landscape is very different. Unlike many other states, there are no laws restricting abortion in Colorado; It is one of six states where there is no gestational limit for women seeking an abortion. As a result, Colorado become a kind of refuge for women who live in states where abortion is restricted or effectively illegal.
The proposed amendment would formally declare that “the right to abortion is recognized” and that “the government will not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of this right.”
The proposal explicitly states that the government cannot ban health insurance coverage for abortion, including insurance plans for public employees and publicly funded insurance plans. That provision would effectively undo a 1984 law that prohibited people from using their health insurance to pay for abortion care.
“In this time of uncertainty, we need to guarantee abortion rights and access in the Colorado Constitution, beyond the reach of politics and politicians. This initiative will guarantee that right for present and future generations,” said Karen Middleton, co-president of Coloradons for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, the group behind the measure, in a statement.
Middleton’s group said it has submitted to state officials the signatures of more than 225,000 registered voters — more than the roughly 124,000 needed to qualify for this fall’s ballot.
Organizers behind the Colorado amendment effort argued that it is crucial to formally enshrine these rights so that lawmakers never have the opportunity to undo them.
To pass in November, the measure requires the support of 55% of voters under state law — not just a simple majority.
Organizers expressed confidence they will surpass that threshold, pointing out that abortion rights advocates defeated a proposed ballot initiative in 2020 that sought to restrict abortion rights in the state by 59% to 41% — a better margin of victory in the blue state that year than Joe Biden is in the presidential race.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
