‘It’s finally going to be on the ballot': Abortion, voting rights proposals placed in the hands of voters

LANSING, Mich. — As soon as the State Board of Canvassers voted unanimously to certify the abortion amendment proposal, backed by Reproductive Freedom For All, Beata Lamparski clapped and cheered.

She was among the handful of RFFA members and volunteers who attended the meeting on Friday morning in the Senate building.

“I’m so excited. It’s finally going to be on the ballot and we’re going to have a chance to vote for it,” Lamparski said after letting out a deep sigh. “Let me tell you if anything could go wrong, it did and that was really unfortunate.”

Lamparksi was one of the people who spoke in favor of the proposal during public comment. She said that she and a friend stood out in the cold and rain, attended morning runs and went to farmer’s markets, to collect 5,410 signatures of the record-breaking 750,000+ collected.

“It’s as thrilling as having my son born,” said Lamparski, who’s a part of the Fems for Democracy group. “That’s what this idea, this proposal, this constitutional amendment, is just that. We went through a process, not quite 9 months and now it’s coming to fruition. So, I’m thrilled.”

Nomi Joyrich was thrilled too.

She and Lamparski are members of the Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network. Joyrich said RFFA has been working on this initiative for years.

“All attempts to ban and restrict contraception and abortion are based on religious ideology,” said Joyrich, who's also the director for Michigan Jews for a Secular Democracy. “As somebody who represents two different faith-based organizations I’m committed to the separation of church and state, the separation of religion and government.”

On August 31, the board, which consists of two democrats and two republicans, was deadlocked along party lines on certifying the proposal due to the spacing of the words.

“Last week’s meeting was pretty intense. It was a long day. But it was testament to ultimately the strength of our system and the importance of people being involved in the process,” said BOC Chair Tony Daunt (R). “There were people here for both sides of these issues, particularly the abortion issue, who are very passionate about their beliefs.”

However, yesterday, on Thursday afternoon, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the proposal had to be on the ballot. So, the board complied.

“I think my public statements in the past have been that ultimately when we have a disagreement on this board that the court will take up the issue,” Daunt said. “And if they provide a decision in order, then it’s our duty to follow that. There’s never any doubt in my mind that if the court told us to put these on the ballot, then we would be doing that.”

The board also certified the Promote the Vote ballot proposal, which protects voting rights. It includes protecting the right to vote without harassment, requiring military and overseas ballots be counted if postmarked by Election Day, and allowing voters to verify their identity with a photo ID or signed statement.

Friday was the deadline to finalize what will be on the ballots. Now that they will include both proposals, supporters said they’re glad that the voters will decide the fate of both.

“Hundreds of thousands of Michigan voters have spoken,” said Dykema attorney Steven Liedel, who's also the general counsel to the RFFA. “They exercised their constitutional right to protect their liberty and their freedom, to exercise their reproductive rights free from interference by government or politicians."