A candidate for the state legislature is lauding the recent decision that will place a pair of ballot initiatives in front of voters this November.
On Thursday, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the State Board of Canvassers to add the Nov. 8 ballot the Reproductive Freedom for All initiative, which would secure access to abortion and reproductive rights, and the Promote the Vote ballot initiative, which would make voting in elections easier and more accessible. The Board previously deadlocked along partisan lines over whether to certify the proposals for the ballot.
“I am 100 percent behind putting these two initiatives on the ballot,” said Christina Kafkakis, a Brighton Democrat, who is running to represent the 49th State House District that includes the City of Brighton, Brighton Township, Green Oak Township in Livingston County, and the City of Wixom and Walled Lake with portions of Lyon Township and Commerce Township in Oakland County.
“I am a strong supporter of voting rights and reproductive rights, but let’s give voters a chance to weigh in,” said Kafkakis. “Let the voters decide!”
“I firmly believe that we do not want the government telling women what they can and can’t do with their bodies. The State Board of Canvassers clearly overstepped their bounds on these two proposals. An overwhelming number of Michiganders signed petitions in support of these two petitions, and their voices need to be heard.”
Kafkakis’s opponent, incumbent Ann Bollin (R-Brighton) has been a vocal opponent of abortion rights, and cheered the U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that had provided federal protection to abortion access for 50 years.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a historic moment and a win for the sanctity of life,” said Bollin. “The people of Michigan’s power to protect the lives of preborn babies has been restored. The work we’ve been doing to encourage pro-family policies is more important now than ever before. We must continue to have discussions with others about how to protect babies in the womb and lift up mothers and children who are struggling.”
Kafkakis, a mother of four and small business owner, says Bollin is “out of step with women in this district.”
“Reproductive rights is a bipartisan issue,” said Kafkakis. “She doesn’t understand that abortion bans threaten the lives of so many women who have ectopic pregnancies and other non-viable pregnancies each year.”
Kafkakis also says Bollin has advocated to make it harder for the elderly, the poor and college students to vote through her advocacy of a series of restrictive voting rights measures passed by the Michigan House and Senate that were ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who Bollin accused of “playing politics”.
“That’s anti-democratic and wrong,” said Kafkakis. “I support reproductive rights and expanding voting rights in Michigan.”
