GOP works to keep abortion rights measures off state ballots: report | CPT PPP Coverage

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Republicans in several states are working to make it harder to pass abortion rights measures after such initiatives saw success in other places last year, according to a new report. 

The New York Times reports that GOP state lawmakers in Ohio are pushing for a ballot amendment that would raise the passage requirement for a constitutional amendment from a simple majority to a 60 percent supermajority threshold — as abortion rights advocates work to get a constitutional amendment protecting abortion before fetal viability on the ballot. 

Similar GOP efforts to block similar abortion rights measures have been underway in five other states, the Times reports. Arkansas and North Dakota, for example, have both made recent moves to stiffen the process for proposed constitutional amendments, the Times found.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, Democrats were able to use the issue to win over some swing voters, leaving Republicans to rethink their strategy on the issue.

Voters during last year’s midterms approved ballot measures to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitutions of California, Vermont and Michigan — and rejected measures that would have restricted the care in Montana and Kentucky.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) on Sunday warned the GOP is “going to lose huge” if the party continues to embrace restrictive stances on abortion.

“As Republicans, we need to read the room on this issue because the vast majority of folks are not in the extremes,” Mace said.

Some recent polling indicates that most Americans support abortion being legal in all or most cases — and House Republicans have notably distanced themselves from talk of a national abortion ban.