Commentary
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The Supreme Court of Michigan ruled that voters get to decide in November whether abortion rights must be added to the state Constitution. This is a big win for pro-choice advocates, as putting the matter to vote could mean preserving abortion access in the Wolverine State. If democracy is truly the linchpin of our society, the GOP must get out of the way so voters in each state can decide whether abortion should be protected under their state constitution. The GOP’s drive to prevent the people from having their say, will be the death knell for the party. Too often are we seeing members of the right invest in trying to subvert the will of the people as it concerns this vital privacy right. In this Michigan case, for example, the state Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Board of State Canvassers, which had deadlocked along party lines. That deadlock allowed the GOP-backing board members to effectively killing the abortion measure citizens wanted to vote on. We know Michigan voters overwhelmingly wanted to decide whether abortion should be codified in the state constitution because those who petitioned to put the question on the ballot had garnered more than seven hundred and fifty thousand signatures—that is, hundreds of thousands of signatures more than required. The people—in this swing state, mind you—want their voices to be heard. Those in the some 40 states where the state constitution doesn’t protect abortion, people what their voices heard. Yet the GOP appears to still be doing its damnedest to silence those voices. That’s not democracy. Nor is it wise. We’re already seeing a byproduct of the overreaching conservative movement. Specifically, voter registration is spiking. Since word of the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade got out, women in states where abortion access is insecure are signing up right and left to vote. In Ohio, for instance, another swing state, women now make up fifty-four percent of newly registered voters. That’s the second highest jump of any state recorded… behind Kansas, that is— where voters recently shot down GOP efforts to remove abortion rights from in its state constitution. Women have also outpaced men in new voter registration by 15 Points in Wisconsin, 12 in Pennsylvania… and so on. This move to make people have children they don’t want won’t fair well for the right. These new voters are overwhelmingly young women and they’re leaning left. There’s no doubt that they’ll make their voices heard in November. Those who can vote on abortion access will be preserving their right to choice. And those who can’t will be backing lawmakers who will allow them to preserve their right to choice. Protecting abortion access will make its way onto ballots across the nation whether the GOP likes it or not. The party’s drive to subvert democracy by silencing the voice of the people will turn November blue. Whether the Republican Party can come back from that will have to be seen.
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