Referendum Results Highlights
For a blog post with commentary, see this week’s post.
For far more details, see the home page of our project website, Peace and Life Referendums.
Links below are to state pages on that site (and also topic pages).
Abortion
Amending state constitutions to be pro-abortion:
Defeated in: Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
For Nebraska, there were two referendums, one for abortion and one stopping them after the first trimester (as is current law). The one protecting second and third trimester babies passed, and the measure doesn’t keep further restrictions from passing the legislature later.
Note that most of the states that passed these already promote abortion in their laws, so no immediate legal change happens. Arizona and Missouri were ones that knocked out abortion bans.
Euthanasia
West Virginia Amendment 1: Protection of Persons against Medically-Assisted Suicide passed, but was a squeaker.
Discriminatory Practices
Covering racism, misogyny, people with disabilities, and all marginalized:
Finally abolishing all slavery is a trend for amending state constitutions, and had one on the ballot this year: Nevada had a referendum to remove the exception for those convicted of a crime from their state constitution.
Nevada, and North Dakota voted yes to update names of state institutions for people with disabilities to be more humanizing.
Poverty
War
War isn’t covered much in referendums, and this one could have just as easily gone under poverty or discriminatory practices, but Arizona passed a referendum causing more problems for immigrants (who are often fleeing war).
And in Our Own Election – New CLN President!
Unlike all the national elections, this one was easy. The vote was unanimous and enthusiastic. Lois Kerschen has been on the board for several years, and works with the Consistent Life Action Foundation. She also has a blog which often covers explicit consistent-life themes.
American Solidarity Results
The American Solidarity Party (ASP) is the only party we know that’s explicitly for a consistent life ethic. It’s a member group of the Consistent Life Network.
Vote totals aren’t complete, but apparently ASP received a substantial increase in votes over the last election.
ASP now has 50% more members than just a few months ago.
State candidates in Texas and Pennsylvania are setting new records for ASP candidate votes.
ASP website traffic is at its highest ever.
All of this means that the word is getting out, not only about ASP, but about the consistent life ethic.
Our Latest Blog Posts
Human Rights: Making Exceptions “With Cause” by Ms. Boomer-ang
Summary of Results: Peace & Life Referendums 2024 more detail than above, less detail than the full website.
Quotation of the Week
Kathleen Parker
It would be wrong to require doctors to act against conscience.
The Washington Post, October 25, 2024
In an NBC interview on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris let slip a shocking position that is rarely, if ever, heard from a politician . . . She said that no conscience concessions should be afforded to health-care providers who object to performing abortions . . .
Isn’t it also essential that the government not require medical practitioners to perform abortions if they choose not to for reasons of conscience? We allow people to conscientiously object to participating in war.
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