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Californians have voted to further protect abortion rights in the state. The same applies in the state of Vermont and probably also in Michigan, according to American media.
Several states have also taken a position on the possible legalization of marijuana.
Voter James Miller of Flint, Michigan, says he voted yes to the amendment with his daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in mind.
– I think we have to do the right thing for the women. It is her body; it is her sole concern, he tells the AP news agency.
On the ballots in the three states there were questions with different wordings that all boiled down to the fact that the reproductive rights of the citizens should be written into the state laws. Reproductive rights usually also include the right to contraception, reports CNN.
In deeply conservative Kentucky, voters have instead decided on the opposite proposal: whether to write explicitly into the state constitution that residents do not have the right to an abortion. On Wednesday morning, Swedish time, the result according to AP is still unclear. However, the state has already introduced an almost total ban on abortion.
Punishment for healthcare staff
In Montana, residents voted yes or no to impose criminal penalties on health care providers who fail to do everything “medically appropriate and reasonable” to save the lives of newborn babies, including when a baby is unlikely to be born after a botched abortion. The result is not yet determined.
The abortion issue is on the agenda in many states after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling in June, which has protected American women’s right to abortion since 1973. The decision this summer means that it is now up to the states to decide on abortion bans.
In five states, voters also voted to legalize marijuana. The first results came in Maryland, where residents said yes to legalizing private use. It will thus become the 20th state in the United States to take that step.
No in conservative states
“By voting for legalization, the people of Maryland have rejected the failed visions of the past and chosen to reform their laws to protect civil rights and promote racial justice,” said Erik Altieri, CEO of NORML, one of the organizations in the US that has long advocated a legalization.
In traditionally conservative North Dakota and Arkansas, however, voters voted no to legalize the private use of marijuana. Since 2016, medical marijuana is legal in both North Dakota and Arkansas. The latter state became the first in the South’s so-called Bible Belt to allow medical use.
Coloradoans have also voted on the legalization of certain psychedelics, such as so-called magic mushrooms. However, according to the first calculations on Wednesday morning, Swedish time, it is too early to draw any conclusions about the result. In Colorado, marijuana has been legal for nearly a decade.
Facts
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade is a court case from 1973 in which the Supreme Court affirms a woman’s right to abortion in the United States with reference to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which deals with the constitutionally protected right to privacy.
According to Roe v. Wade, abortion is permitted until the fetus shows viability, which was then described as between weeks 24 and 28. However, abortions after week 21 are very rare in the United States.
The name Roe v. Wade comes from the pregnant woman under the pseudonym Jane Roe who won the case in 1973 against prosecutor Henry Wade.
The sentence was lifted by the Supreme Court on 24 June 2022.
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