JURIST - Paper Chase: Abortion restrictions fail in California, South Dakota

[JURIST] Voters in California and South Dakota Tuesday rejected ballot measures that would restrict access to abortion [JURIST news archive], In California, Proposition 4 [text and materials] would have amended the state constitution to require that a physician notify a parent or legal guardian of an unemancipated minor who has sought an abortion and wait 48 hours before performing the procedure. The amendment contained narrow exceptions, including waiver by a court based on clear and convincing evidence of the minor's maturity or best interests. As of noon EST Wednesday, the unofficial results [text] for Proposition 4 (with 24,360 of 25,423 polls reporting) were:

Yes – 4,594,086 – 47.6% percent
No – 5,041,647 – 52.4% percent

Similar proposals have failed twice previously in California. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.

With all polls reporting in South Dakota, unofficial results [text] showed that voters there defeated Initiated Measure 11 [PDF text] 55 percent to 45 percent. The proposed law, which would have prohibited abortion except in cases of rape, incest and "substantial and irreversible risk" to a woman's health, was viewed as a vehicle to challenge US Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases. South Dakota legislators last year rejected [JURIST report] a similar bill after a 2006 initiative that did not contain any exceptions failed. From Sioux Falls, the Argus Leader has more.

While not addressing abortion specifically, a Colorado initiative [Amendment 48 text and materials; unofficial results] amending the state constitution to define "person" to include "any human being from the moment of fertilization" also failed by a wide margin Tuesday.

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