Kaiser Health News
Ohio Voted on Abortion. Next Year, 11 More States Might, Too.
Bram Sable-Smith
Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:30:00 +0000
UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — As activists parse the results of Tuesday’s vote to protect abortion rights in Ohio, Jamie Corley is already well on her way to putting a similar measure in front of Missouri voters next year.
Corley, a former Republican congressional staffer, filed not one, but six potential ballot measures in August to roll back her state’s near-total ban on abortion, triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to end federal protections for terminating pregnancies.
“I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous it is to be pregnant in Missouri right now,” Corley said at a restaurant near her home in this St. Louis suburb. “There is a real urgency to pass something to change the abortion law.”
Missouri is one of at least 11 states considering abortion-related ballot measures for next year, part of the wave of such actions since the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. And while November 2024 is still a year away, the groundwork for those campaigns has been in motion for months, sometimes years.
In Iowa, for example, efforts to pass a state constitutional amendment declaring no right to abortion began in 2021, although the legislature has yet to finish the process. In Colorado, competing initiatives — one to enshrine abortion protections and one to ban abortion — could potentially appear on the same ballot if supporters of both manage to garner enough signatures. And in Missouri, potential ballot measures to increase access to abortion have been bogged down in litigation for months, delaying the collection of signatures and highlighting internecine conflicts on both sides of the issue.
“In a way, I think this is what the Supreme Court wanted,” said John Matsusaka, executive director of the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California. “They said, ‘The people ought to figure this out.’”
The push for sending the contentious issue to voters comes on the heels of last year’s string of ballot measure wins for abortion rights in six states: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont. And on Tuesday, Ohio voters broadly passed a measure to establish a state constitutional right to abortion.
Citizen-initiated ballot measures in the 26 states that allow them are often prompted by legislatures that stray far from public opinion, Matsusaka said. Fourteen states have banned abortion since the Dobbs decision, despite polling suggesting those bans are unpopular. Two-thirds of adults expressed concern in a May KFF poll, for example, that such bans could make it difficult for doctors to safely treat patients.
But in states where abortion is legal, a push is coming from the other direction.
“Colorado was actually the first state, or one of the first states, to provide abortion on demand,” said Faye Barnhart, one of the anti-abortion activists who filed petitions to restrict abortions there. “We were pioneers in doing the wrong thing, and so we’re hopeful that we’ll be pioneers in turning that around to do the right thing.”
A similar effort in Iowa, meanwhile, is up in the air. The legislature in 2021 approved a proposed amendment declaring the Iowa Constitution does not protect abortion rights. But the measure needs to pass the Republican-controlled legislature again to get on the ballot. Lawmakers declined to take up the matter during this year’s legislative session but could do so in 2024. A poll published by the Des Moines Register in March found that 61% of Iowans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
If Missouri’s abortion ban is indeed rolled back next year, it would mark the fourth time since 2018 that the state’s voters rebuked their Republican leaders, who have controlled the governorship and both legislative chambers since 2017. Recent initiative petitions have succeeded in raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, and expanding Medicaid, the public insurance program for people with low incomes and disabilities.
The success of those campaigns doesn’t mean the petition process is easy, said Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida who specializes in ballot initiatives. Collecting signatures is costly and often requires contracting with what he called the “initiative industrial complex.”
An analysis by Ballotpedia found that the cost per required signature collected for initiative campaigns in 2023 averaged $9.38. At that rate, it would cost more than $1.6 million to get an initiative on the ballot in Missouri — where around 172,000 signatures are needed. And that’s before adding in the cost of running campaigns to persuade voters to choose a side.
In the two months leading up to November’s vote in Ohio, the campaign to protect abortion rights raised about $29 million, and the opposing campaign raised nearly $10 million, according to The Associated Press. Much of the funding came from out-of-state groups, such as the progressive Sixteen Thirty Fund in Washington, D.C., and an Ohio organization associated with the national anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
And more money will pour into the next efforts: Last month, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat whose family owns the Hyatt hotel chain, launched the Think Big America organization to help fund abortion-rights ballot measures across the country.
Still, the cost of launching a ballot campaign is a daunting obstacle, said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which has clinics in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. During last year’s vote in Kansas, for example, the competing campaigns raised over $11.2 million combined. That may be a factor in the absence of a ballot measure in Oklahoma despite momentum for one last year.
“It’s not just: Can you pull together a coalition, educate voters, and get them out? But: Can you also raise enough to combat what has been years of misinformation, miseducation, and really shaming and stigmatizing information about abortion?” Wales said.
Polling in Missouri indicates voters statewide, including many Republicans, might back abortion rights in certain circumstances.
That’s what led Corley to file her petitions in August despite a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom having already filed 11 proposals to roll back the state’s abortion ban. Corley said her proposals are narrower to attract support from sympathetic Republicans like herself. They provide exemptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, and the health of the mother. Three would prevent restrictions on abortions for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The proposals from Missourians for Constitutional Freedom would allow abortion later in pregnancy. Some versions allow regulations on abortions only after 24 weeks, while others specify after “fetal viability” or don’t give any time frame.
One group withholding support from any effort so far is Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, the state’s other main Planned Parenthood affiliate and the final clinic to provide abortion services before Missouri’s ban.
“My concern is that we would potentially rebuild the same system that failed so many people,” said Colleen McNicholas, its chief medical officer for reproductive health services.
Missouri lawmakers long sought ways to limit abortion even while it was protected by the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, including enacting a 72-hour waiting period in 2014. The number of recorded abortions in the state dropped from 5,772 in 2011 to 150 in 2021, the last full year before the current ban.
“We know what it’s like to live in a post-Roe reality, and we knew that reality well before the Dobbs decision,” said McNicholas.
Still, Corley said her group is ready to push ahead with at least one measure.
“People are looking for something like what we’re putting forward, which is something in the middle that provides protections against criminal prosecution,” Corley said. “I also don’t think people understand how much worse it can get in Missouri.”
Rural editor and correspondent Tony Leys in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
——————————
By: Bram Sable-Smith
Title: Ohio Voted on Abortion. Next Year, 11 More States Might, Too.
Sourced From: kffhealthnews.org/news/article/ohio-voted-on-abortion-next-year-11-more-states-might-too/
Published Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:30:00 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.biloxinewsevents.com/us-to-cover-hiv-prevention-drugs-for-older-americans-to-stem-spread-of-the-virus/
Kaiser Health News
As Nuns Disappear, Many Catholic Hospitals Look More Like Megacorporations
SUMMARY: No nuns currently serve as CEOs in over 600 Catholic hospitals in the U.S., despite their historical role in establishing these institutions. As the focus on financial viability intensified, many hospitals transformed into large for-profit entities, straying from their original charitable missions. Sister Mary Jean Ryan, a prominent former leader at SSM Health, emphasized the critical role nuns played in healthcare leadership. Current Catholic hospital executives, led by Laura Kaiser, earn significant salaries, raising questions about their commitment to community welfare. While Catholic doctrine influences care practices, the hospitals’ tax-exempt status and community contributions are often questioned, highlighting disparities between mission and profit.
The post As Nuns Disappear, Many Catholic Hospitals Look More Like Megacorporations appeared first on kffhealthnews.org
Kaiser Health News
Election Outcome Could Bring Big Changes to Medicare
SUMMARY: During the campaign, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are positioning themselves as defenders of Medicare, each blaming the other for potential cuts to the program. The election could significantly impact Medicare’s future, especially with more beneficiaries opting for Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers, a trend that could escalate under a Trump administration. Critics warn that increased privatization would limit care options and raise costs, while supporters argue these plans provide better benefits. Polls indicate that a candidate’s stance on Medicare heavily influences voter decisions, highlighting the program’s importance in the upcoming election.
The post Election Outcome Could Bring Big Changes to Medicare appeared first on kffhealthnews.org
Kaiser Health News
What’s at Stake: A Pivotal Election for Six Big Health Issues
SUMMARY: In the election campaign’s final days, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump clash over health care, including issues of abortion access and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Harris aims to preserve ACA subsidies and protect health care rights, while Trump’s campaign lacks clarity on health plans, suggesting significant cuts. The future of Medicaid, drug prices, and transgender health care also hinges on the election outcome. Trump’s proposals could roll back protections for these groups, contrasting with Harris’ promises to uphold existing health care rights and enhance drug pricing negotiations, setting stark differences for voters.
The post What’s at Stake: A Pivotal Election for Six Big Health Issues appeared first on kffhealthnews.org
-
News from the South - Georgia News Feed7 days ago
Co-defendant takes plea deal in YSL RICO trial | FOX 5 News
-
Mississippi News Video6 days ago
Free Clinic of Meridian Celebrates 10 Years
-
Our Mississippi Home7 days ago
A New Deep Sea Remotely Operated Vehicle Coming to USM
-
News from the South - Arkansas News Feed6 days ago
Buc-ee’s set to open second Arkansas location
-
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed6 days ago
FBI arrests NC man known as 'AK Guru' who is accused of selling hundreds of machine guns
-
News from the South - Alabama News Feed4 days ago
“There is a man here trying to use your ID” Suspect caught in Elberta using stolen ID at victims wor
-
News from the South - Texas News Feed4 days ago
Former HISD employees accused in teacher cheating scheme try to avoid cameras at first court hearing
-
Mississippi News6 days ago
Lowndes Co. inmate sentenced to 32 years in state prison