With women's reproductive rights being increasingly debated in Congress, all eyes were on two states this midterm election, regardless of where you live. In encouraging news for women everywhere, Colorado did not pass Amendment 67 and North Dakota shut down Measure 1. Both could have had major implications on each state's abortion laws in the future.
For anyone unfamiliar with the amendments in question, both deal with "personhood measures," and aim to legally define life as starting at conception. Both amendments were ostensibly about protecting and providing proper care for an unborn fetus, but could, of course, lead to restrictions on all types of abortions.
Though they both are related to personhood, the two states were trying to pass these laws with different intent. North Dakota's Measure 1 said that everyone has an "inalienable right to life" at any stage of development, and wanted to ensure that both a mother and her unborn child would be given proper medical attention should an emergency arise. In Colorado, Amendment 67 dealt with criminal code — the amendment sought to define a fetus as a child, therefore protecting them against wrongful death.
With proponents of both amendments insisting that standing abortion laws would protect mothers seeking to legally terminate a pregnancy, protestors insisted that the laws are too vague, and could potentially limit abortion rights in the future, so we can all celebrate at the fact that neither passed during theses midterms.
