WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Election officials in Arizona and Missouri announced in August that proposed amendments on the ballot enshrining abortion rights into their states’ constitutions qualified for their november ballots.
Meanwhile, Democrats prepared for their party’s national convention as both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump campaigned on the economy.
Arizona, Missouri election officials approve abortion measures for November ballot
Since Dobbs, voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas have either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it. More states will consider similar ballot measures in November, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and South Dakota.
Comparable efforts in Montana and Nebraska are pending approval from state election officials, and voters in Maryland and New York will consider abortion-related protections to their state constitutions.
The Catholic conferences of both Missouri and Arizona have opposed those measures, as have Catholic conferences in other states.
Closely-watched races for the U.S. Senate are also taking place in Montana, Arizona and Nevada, and abortion-related ballot measures in those states will likely increase voter turnout in those races.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has faced questions he has yet to answer about how he intends to vote with regard to Florida’s abortion ballot measure, the state in which he is a registered voter. Trump in April announced his position that abortion should be left to the states to legislate and lashed out at critics of that position on social media, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Arizona’s Supreme Court Aug. 14 issued a ruling that sided with Republican lawmakers, allowing an informational pamphlet for Arizona voters to use the term “unborn human being” in reference to the measure.
Democrats prepare for DNC in Chicago
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled from Aug. 19 to 22 at the United Center in Chicago.
Originally planned to nominate President Joe Biden for reelection, the convention will instead mark his handoff to Harris after he announced in July he would end his 2024 reelection bid and endorse his running mate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Harris, who secured the party’s nomination in a virtual vote prior to the convention, will be formally nominated there, and will be joined by her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn.
In the leadup to the event, both Trump and Harris campaigned on economic issues.
In remarks in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 14, Trump pledged “rapid approvals for new energy infrastructure,” and reduced energy costs, while describing Harris as “crazy.”
On Aug. 16, Harris delivered remarks in Raleigh, North Carolina, on her economic platform, saying she wants to bring down the cost of living by addressing what she called price gouging on grocery items, constructing more affordable housing units and providing down-payment assistance for first-time home buyers.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @kgscanlon.