Anti-Abortion Measures on November Ballots in CA, CO, and SD
Anti-abortion measures will be on the state-wide November ballots in California, Colorado, and South Dakota.
In California, a constitutional amendment will appear on the November ballot that, if passed, would require parental notification and a 48-hour waiting period before allowing a minor to obtain an abortion. Also in California, a second measure to amend the state constitution is still in circulation. This initiative would ban abortion once a fetus becomes viable at 24 weeks and states that "abortion after 24 weeks is murder unless necessary to save [the] mother’s life".
The Colorado Definition of a Person, designated Amendment 48 on the state's November ballot, is a personhood initiative that declares a fertilized egg to be a person who enjoys all constitutional rights "relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice,
and due process of law". Personhood initiatives not only put a woman's right to an abortion in danger but also threaten oral and emergency contraception, IUDs, and in vitro fertilization clinics.
In South Dakota an abortion ban initiative will be on the ballot and could result in amendment of the South Dakota state constitution. The proposed law is known as "an act to protect the lives of unborn children, and the interests and health of pregnant mothers, by prohibiting abortions except in cases where the mother's life or health is at risk, and in cases of rape and incest". If approved by voters, this law would severely limit access to abortion and likely would be challenged in the courts.
In Mississippi, a petition circulating to put the Ultimate Human Life Amendment on the ballot expired, but the initiative may be re-submitted.
6/18/2013 Supreme Court Strikes Down Proof of Citizenship Voter Requirements - On Monday, the United States Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship before being allowed register to vote.
In an opinion written [PDF] by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court ruled that the Arizona statute violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA, also known as the "Motor Voter Law") of 1993, which created a federal form that individuals can mail in to register to vote in federal elections. . . .
6/18/2013 Pakistani Women's University Bus, Hospital Bombed - A bus for a women's university in Pakistan and the hospital that treated victims from the blast were bombed on Saturday, killing 14 students and 24 others at the hospital.
The bus was transporting female students and teachers from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University in Quetta, located in the southwestern part of Pakistan. . . .
6/18/2013 Taliban Attack In Afghan Capital As NATO Transfers Power - Yesterday, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) transferred responsibility for the country's security forces to the Afghan government after a bomb blast targeting a political official left three civilians dead in Kabul. . . .
