Massachusetts Public Funding of Abortion Initiative (2020)
| Massachusetts Public Funding of Abortion Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Abortion | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Massachusetts Public Funding of Abortion Initiative was not put on the ballot in Massachusetts as an indirect initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
The measure would have added an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution stating that nothing in the constitution requires the public funding of abortion.[1]
Text of measure
Petition summary
The petition summary was as follows:[2]
| “ | This proposed constitutional amendment would permit the state to exclude abortion services from state-funded health care.[3] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Massachusetts Constitution
The measure would have added a new amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution. The following text would have been added:[1]
Path to the ballot
In Massachusetts, supporters of an indirect initiated constitutional amendment are required to collect signatures equal to 3 percent of votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, excluding blanks.
If an initiated amendment is certified, the proposal must be approved by at least 25 percent of legislators during two successive legislative sessions. There are 200 legislators altogether—40 in the Massachusetts State Senate and 160 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives—so a proposed amendment must earn 50 positive votes. The proposed amendment does not need to earn a 25 percent vote from both chambers, but, rather, from a joint session. This means, for example, that if 50 members of the state House voted in favor of an amendment, it would require no support from any state senator to qualify for the ballot.
On September 6, 2017, Attorney General Maura Healey (D) approved the proposal for signature gathering.[2]
On December 6, 2017, proponents said that they had not submitted enough verified signatures to state officials to qualify the measure to go before the legislature. Because of this, the measure did not progress in the state's initiated amendment process and was not put on the ballot.[4]
See also
- Massachusetts 2020 ballot measures
- 2020 ballot measures
- Massachusetts Legislature
- Laws governing the initiative process in Massachusetts
- Abortion policy ballot measures
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Massachusetts Secretary of State, "Initiative Petition," May 30, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Massachusetts Attorney General, "Petitions Filed," accessed September 6, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Newbury Port News, "Abortion foes fall short on ballot push," December 6, 2017
