The 2022 midterm elections yesterday marked the first national election since SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, giving individual states power to restrict access to the medical procedure. Anxieties were understandably off the charts as we waited to see how reproductive rights would fare in the midterms, especially since some states had the topic explicitly on their ballots. From deciding to either outlaw or enshrine the medical procedure into state constitutions, here's how abortion access and repro rights fared during the 2022 midterms in different states.
California, Michigan, and Vermont voted to add an amendment to their constitution to protect reproductive rights
In a legendary win for reproductive rights in the post-Roe world, California, Michigan and Vermont all voted to change their respective state's constitutions to include an amendment that protects all reproductive rights, from birth control to abortion access.
Kentucky rejected an amendment that would've legally outlawed abortion
Voters in Kentucky effectively rejected a proposed amendment to their state constitution that would have legally outlawed abortion. Over the summer, Kentucky was one of the states that immediately banned abortion once Roe was overturned. But now, Kentucky's Supreme Court will reassess the ban in oral arguments on November 15—basically, since Kentuckians decided outlawing abortion was not going to be in their state constitution, the court needs to make a final decision on if they can legally keep the restrictions currently in place.
Montana rejected the so-called "Born Alive" ballot measure
Citizens of Montana officially voted to reject the "born-alive" regulation, which, according to NPR, would have declared "that an embryo or fetus is a legal person with a right to medical care if born prematurely or survives an attempted abortion."
If the the regulation had passed, it would have criminalized healthcare providers who don't make every effort to save said embryo or fetus. Critics of the measure—including those in the medical community—said it represented government overreach.
Christen A. Johnson is the senior lifestyle editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers health and wellness, home, sports, astrology, food, travel and more for print and digital. She also dabbles in culture writing, and wrote Cosmo's first-ever digital cover story. Before joining the magazine, Christen was a lifestyle features reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Several of her health and style stories made the paper's front page. When Christen isn't digging through antique stores, she's likely drooling over home renos on HGTV, sharing her latest therapy revelation, redoing old workouts from her college basketball days, or trying to perfect her homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe. Follow her on Insta for BTS ~ editor life ~ tingz!
