Ohio Voted on Abortion. Next Year, 11 More States Might, Too.

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1 year ago

November 10, 2023

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UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. As activists parse the results of Tuesdays 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 states near-total ban on abortion, triggered by the U.S. Supreme Courts June 2022 decision to end federal protections for terminating pregnancies. Use Our Content

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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 Courts decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Womens 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 years 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. A “Yes yard sign near Cincinnati urged voters to support adding abortion and reproductive health decision-making protections to the Ohio Constitution as part of a Nov. 7 ballot measure. (Stephanie Stapleton/KFF Health News) A competing No yard sign sought to defeat the measure. (Stephanie Stapleton/KFF Health News)

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 years 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. Email Sign-Up

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If Missouris abortion ban is indeed rolled back next year, it would mark the fourth time since 2018 that the states 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 doesnt 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 thats 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. Stickers pile up at a polling site in Toledo, Ohio, on Election Day.(Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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 years 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.

Thats 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 states 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 dont 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 states other main Planned Parenthood affiliate and the final clinic to provide abortion services before Missouris 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 waysto limit abortion even while it was protected by the Supreme Courts 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.

Bram Sable-Smith: brams@kff.org, @besables Related Topics Elections Public Health States Abortion Colorado Iowa Legislation Missouri Ohio Oklahoma Women's Health Contact Us Submit a Story Tip

Business

Energy bills to rise again from January but spring falls to come, research firm Cornwall Insight forecasts

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34 mins ago

November 18, 2024

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Energy bills to rise again from January but spring falls to come, research firm Cornwall Insight forecasts

Energy bills are to rise again next year, according to a respected forecaster.

Costs from January to March are projected to rise another 1% to £1,736 a year for the average user, according to research firm Cornwall Insight.

The energy price cap, which sets a limit on how much companies can charge per unit of electricity, is also expected to rise, costing typical households an extra £19 a year.

It’s a further increase after energy costs rose 10% from October.

After the latest hike, there were hopes of a fall in the new year, but volatile wholesale gas and electricity markets are still above historic average costs.

Money blog: Supermarket-own champagne beats expensive brands in taste test

Prices have gone up due to supply concerns arising from Russia‘s war in Ukraine, and maintenance of Norwegian gas infrastructure.

But spring is expected to herald a reduction as is October 2025, Cornwall Insight said.

Every three months energy regulator Ofgem revises the cap based on wholesale costs.

The official January price cap announcement will be made on Friday.

It comes as millions of pensioners lost their automatic winter fuel allowance payment after the government means-tested the benefit.

Meanwhile, Cornwall Insight’s principal consultant Dr Craig Lowrey warned “millions” of households won’t heat their homes to “recommended temperatures, risking serious health consequences” with bills on the rise.

“With it being widely accepted that high prices are here to stay, we need to see action,” he said, suggesting options like cheaper rates for low-income homes, benefit restructuring, or other targeted support for the vulnerable “must be seriously considered”.

The energy price cap system is being reviewed by Ofgem with possible changes to the standing charge coming over the next year.

The long-lasting solution to high energy bills is the transition to UK-produced renewable power, the firm said.

“While there will be upfront costs, this shift is essential to building a sustainable and secure energy system for the future.”

UK

Masked burglars ‘raid’ Windsor Castle grounds ‘while William, Kate and children slept at home on estate’

Published

34 mins ago

November 18, 2024

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Masked burglars 'raid' Windsor Castle grounds 'while William, Kate and children slept at home on estate'

Masked burglars have stolen farm vehicles from the Windsor Castle estate while members of the Royal Family are believed to have been asleep nearby.

Two men scaled a 6ft fence on the night of 13 October and used a stolen truck to break through a security gate, The Sun first reported.

The pair then fled with a pick-up and a quad bike that were stored in a barn.

The King and Queen were not in residence.

But the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with their three children George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Louis were believed to have been in their home, Adelaide Cottage, on the estate, according to The Sun.

The family moved there in 2022.

In a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “At around 11.45pm on Sunday 13 October, we received a report of burglary at a property on Crown Estate land near to the A308 in Windsor.

“Offenders entered a farm building and made off with a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad bike. They then made off towards the Old Windsor/Datchet area.

“No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing.”

On Christmas Day 2021, a man climbed a fence at Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow and claimed he wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth II.

Jaswant Singh Chail was handed a nine-year custodial sentence for treason, possession of an offensive weapon and making threats to kill.

UK

UK told to expect ‘disruptive snow’ as warnings cover large parts of country

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34 mins ago

November 18, 2024

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UK told to expect 'disruptive snow' as warnings cover large parts of country

The UK is braced for “disruptive snow” as yellow weather warnings cover large parts of the country until Tuesday – with the Met Office saying there is the “potential” for the alerts to be “escalated”.

The forecaster has warned up to 20cm of snow may accumulate in the worst affected areas as the country experiences its “first taste of winter”.

The Met Office has also told people to expect ice, cold temperatures and wintry showers this week.

Check the forecast in your area

A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place for much of the north of the country – covering areas in the East Midlands, Yorkshire, Wales and the north of England – from 7pm on Monday night to 10am on Tuesday morning.

Those in the impacted areas have been told power cuts are possible and mobile phone coverage might be affected.

The Met Office has said there is a “slight chance” some rural communities could be cut off and that bus and train services may be delayed or cancelled.

People are also warned to be careful not to slip or fall on icy surfaces.

The Met Office has said there will be bright spells across northern and eastern areas throughout today, but rain in the south and west will gradually spread northeastwards and turn to snow over northern hills.

Tom Morgan, Met Office meteorologist, said: “We could see some disruptive snow in the Pennine regions, in particular, the Peak District as well, especially Monday night, but we could well see some impacts lasting on until Tuesday morning’s rush hour.

“Even down to lower levels, we could well see some snow as well, so quite a bit of disruption possible by Tuesday morning, and then the week ahead is likely to stay cold nationwide, a windy day on Tuesday, and then winter showers through the week ahead.”

Mr Morgan said that despite a “mild” start to the month, the cold conditions are more typical of “mid-winter to late-winter”.

“What we can say is that it’s going to be very cold for the time of year, there will be widespread overnight frosts, and a few locations where there’s snow on the ground,” he continued.

Meanwhile, a yellow snow and ice weather warning that came into force at 4pm on Sunday will end at 11am this morning.

The warning covers the northern tip of Scotland and people there have been told there may be icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.

The Met Office has said there is “potential” for both yellow warnings to be “escalated”.

In southern England, a typical maximum temperature for this time of year is 11C (52F), but daytime highs for the week ahead are forecast to be around 5C (41F), while some parts of Scotland will reach “only just above freezing”, Mr Morgan said.

The meteorologist said the public can best prepare for the wintry weather by checking their cars are suitable for icy and potentially snowy conditions and to take extra supplies including food, blankets and a fully charged mobile phone with them on journeys.

He added there were “likely” to be changes to the weather warnings in the coming days, and that “winter flurries” could be seen in the south of England later in the week.

Despite the cold conditions, the “whole of the UK” will enjoy more sunshine this week, the meteorologist added.

He said: “There’ll be some snow showers in the peripheries of the UK, particularly northern Scotland, and down the east and the west coast, but if you live inland and you live in the south, there’ll be lots of sparkly blue skies on the most days through Tuesday to Friday.”

It comes as a cold weather alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency, which was introduced at 9am on Sunday, will be in place until 9am on Thursday.

It covers a large area of England, north of Northhampton. The alert is triggered when there is a risk that healthcare services might face extra pressure and is designed to prepare those who are “particularly vulnerable” and “likely to struggle to cope”.