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Proposal 3: Michigan's 'yes' vote could serve as blueprint for other states to restore abortion rights

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Published  November 9, 2022 5:33pm EST
2022 Midterm Election results
FOX 2 Detroit

Proposal 3 passes in Michigan -- What's next

Proposal 3 passed in Michigan. A new amendment will be added to the state constitution allowing Michiganders the right to have an abortion.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Proposal 3 received enough votes Tuesday to enshrine abortion into Michigan's constitution.

Almost 2.5 million people voted "yes" on the ballot proposal, while nearly 1.9 million voted "no."

"Michigan is now the first state in the nation to pass an affirmative citizen-led constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to an abortion," said Sommer Foster, the executive director of Michigan Voices.

The issue resonated with voters young and old from all walks of life.

MORE: How Michigan counties voted to protect abortion rights

"We had Republicans, independents, Democrats voting yes on Proposal 3," said Nicole Wells Stallworth, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Michigan. "This is not a political campaign. This is about reproductive freedom, this is about healthcare, this is about privacy."

Michigan's 1931 ban on abortion that prosecuted doctors and caregivers is unenforceable, but elsewhere since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, dozens of states have sought to ban abortion or severely restrict it.

"We know that about 1/3 of the entire country has lost access to abortion almost completely," Stallworth said.

She says the state's efforts to restore abortion rights could serve as a blueprint for other states.

"Michigan has really been serving as a shining light in that regard - an example of how we might be able to use our tools of democracy and citizen-led initiatives to be able to restore those rights," she said.

Find more election results here. 

Thousands of volunteers worked with Planned Parenthood, the ACLU of Michigan, and Michigan Voices to raise more than $40 million to promote Proposal 3. Opponents spent nearly $17 million, funded by the Michigan Catholic Conference and Right to Life, while claiming the proposal was too extreme and confusing.

"It's unfortunate that our radical opponents tried to confuse things with disinformation. Those who voted in support understood what was at stake," said Darci McConnell, the spokesperson for Reproductive Freedom for All.

FOX 2 spoke with one abortion provider who said she's so grateful to the voters of Michigan, but she's also concerned. She says scare tactics have ramped up - they're getting threats over the phone and hundreds of protestors are coming to her clinic.

Others are threatening legal action.

A spokesperson for Citizens to Support MI Women & Children, releasing a statement saying, "We will hold the sponsors of this proposal accountable for the claims they made, that no law beyond the 1931 law would be invalidated. We expect the authors of this proposal to respond to the inevitable flood of litigation that will come with this amendment by insisting that laws like parental consent be upheld, as they promised the people of Michigan."

The ACLU of Michigan is ready to defend the amendment and protect the rights Michigan voted for.

"The voters of Michigan have just said, 'We believe in reproductive freedom for all, and now it's our job to protect those rights," said Loren Khogali, the executive Director of the ACLU of Michigan.