Within minutes after early voting results revealed Albuquerque’s proposed 20-week abortion ban wouldn’t pass by a wide margin, reproductive rights activists let out a breath they had been holding for months. Early September polling had shown that the popular vote favored the city level ban, which would end the ability to provide later second- and all third-term abortions under any circumstance other than a direct threat to a pregnant person’s life. Yet by the time the votes were tallied, those who had cast ballots before Nov. 19 voted against the ban. Near final Election Day results put the vote at 55 percent of voters rejecting the measure; it was clear that the majority believed that a decision to have a later abortion should be left between doctor and patient.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=207233