Repro Rights Report

Abortion rights victories in late 2022

Posted on November 29, 2022

Victories in California

The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance that prohibits any Crisis Pregnancy Center from misrepresenting the health services it offers, including lies about abortion services, and provides individuals legal recourse if they are misled.

CA SB 1375 (2022), by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), allows trained nurse practitioners to perform first trimester abortions without the supervision of a physician.

CA AB 1242 (2022), by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), prohibits state law enforcement agencies from helping with out-of-state abortion investigations.

CA AB 1666 (2022), also by Bauer-Kahan, ensures that providers and patients in California can’t be held civilly liable for judgments related to abortion based on claims made in antiabortion states.

In the general election, California voters adopted a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion—see below.

Victories on statewide referenda

There were six state referenda on abortion this year, in CA, KS, KY, MI, MT and VT, and abortion rights won all of them.

Believing that their citizens opposed abortion, conservative legislatures in three states put the issue on the 2022 ballot.

Kansas: Because the Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the right to abortion, the legislature placed on the ballot a constitutional amendment to overturn that right. On August 2, voters rejected the anti-abortion amendment by a margin of 59-to-41 percent.

Kentucky: Although abortion is completely prohibited by statute in Kentucky, the legislature nonetheless placed on the ballot a constitutional amendment asserting there is no constitutional right to abortion. Voters rejected the anti-abortion amendment by a margin of 52-to-48 percent.

Montana: Because Montana courts have upheld the right to abortion, the legislature placed on the ballot a “born-alive” statute trying to make it impractical for doctors to perform many abortions. Voters rejected the anti-abortion statute by a margin of 53-to-47 percent.

Believing that their citizens favor the right to abortion, progressive legislatures in two states put the issue on the ballot:

California: The legislature placed on the ballot a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion and contraception, which was approved by a margin of 66-to-34 percent.

Vermont: The legislature placed on the ballot a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion, which was approved by a margin of 77-to-23 percent.

Only one state had an abortion referendum placed on the ballot by petition:

Michigan: A coalition, including the state ACLU and Planned Parenthood groups, gathered 735,000 signatures to place on the ballot a constitutional amendment creating a new individual right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion. It was approved by a margin of 57-to-43 percent.

The Michigan referendum not only protected abortion rights, it created a “blue wave” for pro-abortion right candidates throughout the state. The Democratic governor was reelected and both the state House and Senate, long controlled by Republicans, turned majority Democratic for the first time in nearly 40 years. (Conventional wisdom held that Democrats might win the Senate but certainly not the House.)

Exit polls in Michigan showed that nearly half of all voters identified abortion as their top issue—more than inflation or any other matter. There was almost no drop-off from top-of-the-ticket votes for governor to votes on the abortion rights constitutional amendment which was at the bottom of the ballot. Fully 98 percent of votes cast for governor were cast on the abortion question, suggesting that citizens turned out to vote on the abortion issue. As State Representative Darrin Camilleri said after knocking on 130,000 doors, “It drove turnout in ways that we did not expect.” In fact, it was the highest turnout ever for a midterm election in Michigan.

Finally, while it is anecdotal at this point, it appears that the abortion referendum drove turnout from college campuses to historic levels. College students were reported in line waiting for hours. Although polls closed at 8pm, the last voter at Michigan State University cast his vote at 12:09 am; the last University of Michigan voter cast her vote around 2 am.