Alabama and West Virginia voters passed ballot measures on Tuesday to eliminate taxpayer funded abortions. Oregon, the third State to have an abortion related ballot measure this election cycle, did not receive adequate support to ban abortion funding.
Alabama’s state legislature proposed a ballot measure to establish a state policy prohibiting state funds from being used for abortions. The ballot measure stated an intent to “recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life.” The unofficial results indicate the measure passed easily, receiving 59.28 percent of the vote.
West Virginia’s ballot measure, proposed by Senate Joint Resolution 12 in March, amended the State Constitution, stating that “nothing in [the State] Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion.” Unofficially, the measure passed by receiving 52.67 percent of the vote.
Voters overwhelmingly denied Oregon’s ballot measure 106, which intended to “prohibit publicly funded healthcare programs, including the Oregon Health Plan and the Public Employees Benefit Board, from covering abortion.” Unofficial results indicate that 64.22 percent of voters opposed the measure.
Currently, these amendments are unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade and are termed “trigger laws.” If the US Supreme Court were to overrule Roe, these measures would trigger and take effect, banning publicly funded abortion in the respective states.