11-06-2024 11:32am

Maryland enshrines abortion rights in its constitution

Catherine Hollingsworth Editor

A yard sign urges voters to support Question 1 in the 2024 election. Cait Kelley/Capital News Service

By Marissa Yelenik
Capital News Service

COLLEGE PARK — Maryland voted to approve a referendum affirming the right to reproductive freedom on Tuesday, making what was already state law a constitutional right.

The referendum, which appeared as Question 1 on voters’ ballots, states that all people have “the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”

The crowd at Angela Alsobrooks’ election night watch party erupted in cheers when news arrived that Maryland’s Question 1 passed with solid support.

“I think it’s important for it to have been codified, and I’m here for women’s rights,” said A.C. Edwards, 34, of Baltimore, who was at the party.

However, critics fear the broad language will allow lawmakers to apply unrelated concepts to the amendment, including gender-affirming surgeries, and widen the access minors have to abortions without parental consent.

Existing state law requires parental notification of minors prior to an abortion, but does not require their consent. Parental notification can be subverted in cases of abuse, if the minor is believed to be mature enough to give informed consent, or if the notification would not be in their best interest.

The amendment follows a nationwide focus on reproductive rights after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Nine other states placed abortion-related constitutional amendments on their 2024 ballots.

The 2022 decision caused many voters to feel unprotected and fearful for their bodily autonomy. While state law already protected reproductive rights, voters raised concerns that laws could be repealed with changing leadership.

The Maryland General Assembly is able to repeal state law through legislative action, but constitutional amendments may only be passed following three-fifths passage in the General Assembly and a majority approval of state voters.

Max Freeman, a high school senior from Bethesda, Md., has worked with the Angela Alsobrooks campaign since March and attended the Alsobrooks watch party.

“I do think it’s important to codify [abortion rights], to enshrine it into the constitution, because it’s such an important issue for so many people,” said Freeman. “It’s really affected a lot of women these past few years … so we just want everybody to feel safe.”

On the way to cast their votes, both supporters and opponents told Capital News Service that Question 1 was at the forefront of their minds.

Sue Livera, a 79-year-old retired Democrat voting Tuesday at Bowie High School, said abortion rights and a school board race are what drew her to the polls. She has campaigned for Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who ended up winning her U.S. Senate seat on a promise to defend women's health.

“Choice has to be paramount. Nobody else should be able to tell anybody what to do with your body. It doesn’t make sense for someone else to have an opinion about someone else’s body,” Livera said.

Lorie Morey, 54, of Middletown, Md., said she voted for former President Donald Trump and other Republicans on the ballot Tuesday.

However, Morey said she thinks the decision to get an abortion is up to the individual.

“I don’t think anybody should tell a person what they can and can’t do with their body,” Morey said. “I don’t think the government should have any say. I don’t think the state should have any say.”

Kathryn Harrington, a volunteer for the Montgomery County Republican Party, said she spent several hours outside the Summit Hall Elementary School polling station in Gaithersburg, Md., educating voters on Republican candidates and their platforms.

This election cycle, she said, she has been particularly worried about Maryland’s abortion referendum.

“This ballot question is a little nefarious because it would allow a child to go get abortions without any parental involvement,” Harrington said.

She worries that this referendum will allow sex traffickers to take advantage of young people.

“I stop and think about a 16-year-old who could be a victim of sex trafficking, get pregnant, get an abortion, get pregnant, get an abortion,” Harrington said. “This amendment is pretty clear. [There is] no age, no limitation … I’m a mom with three kids and that scares me.”

The Associated Press called the race not long after polls closed on Tuesday night. Other states showed a mix of results, with the Florida amendment to legalize abortion failing while the New York and Colorado amendments to enshrine abortion rights into their constitutions succeeded.

Sofia Appolonio, Katharine Wilson and Mennatalla Ibrahim contributed to this story. Peter Riccio reported from Bowie.