Stem cell research tallies narrow win
Missouri voters approved a state constitutional change Nov. 7 to protect embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning.
Missouri Baptists, who donated $100,000 to fight the measure, along with other evangelical groups and Catholics battled hard against Amendment 2 but were outspent by a wide margin. Of about $30 million spent on the battle, $29 million was spent by Amendment 2 proponents.
The victory margin for Amendment 2 was razor-thin. According to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, of the 2-million-plus votes cast, 50.7 percent voted “yes,” while 49.3 percent voted “no.”
Amendment opponents told Baptist Press that the battle is not finished, indicating that possible court tests are on the horizon.
“I am disappointed with the passage of Amendment 2,” said Susan Klein, the chief lobbyist for Missouri Right to Life and wife of a Missouri Baptist pastor. “We knew from the beginning that this was going to be an uphill battle. The proponents of Amendment 2 waged a battle of deception and they outspent us by a margin of more than 10-1.”
Klein said the defeat has pulled the pro-life community together across Missouri. “We are not going away,” she said. “We are energized. We are going to look for ways to address the constitutionality of Amendment 2, including the possible court tests. We will continue to work for the truth.”
Pro-lifers undaunted by losses
The nation’s most ambitious attempt to restrict abortion in the past 33 years was turned back in the Nov. 7 election, as voters in South Dakota repealed a ban passed last winter by the state legislature. The referendum known as Referred Law 6 was defeated by a 56-44 percent margin, the Secretary of State’s office reported. The measure gathered approximately 186,000 votes opposed to the ban, while nearly 149,000 voters supported it.
Combined with the failure to enact parental notification laws in California and Oregon, the pro-life movement suffered three key setbacks Tuesday. As in South Dakota, the parental notification initiatives in California and Oregon were voted down by significant margins.
In California, Proposition 85 lost by a 54-46 percent margin, with more than 2.9 million votes in favor and 3.5 million against. It would have required parents to be notified 48 hours before a minor could obtain an abortion.
Oregon’s State Ballot Measure 43 also would have required a 48-hour notice to parents of any girl 15 to 17 (state law requires parental consent for any medical procedure on children under 15). It lost by an identical 54-46 percent, with nearly 416,000 votes in favor and 482,000 in opposition.
Leslee Unruh, campaign manager for Vote Yes for Life, however, told Baptist Press the campaign in South Dakota suffered from a lack of visible support from Gov. Mike Rounds, confusion over the wording on the ballot, and the failure of national right-to-life groups to support the initiative. Despite the setback, Unruh believes Vote Yes for Life succeeded in changing the public’s rhetoric by emphasizing how abortion harms women.
Voters say no to legalizing marijuana
Voters defeated three pro-marijuana measures Nov. 7 that would have legalized use of the drug in three states – Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota.
Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy and research of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, noted: “Despite the plays on people’s emotions, the majority of voters recognized that it is foolish to weaken laws on marijuana usage.”
In Colorado, Amendment 44, which would have allowed adults 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, lost by nearly a 2-1 margin. So unpopular was the initiative, it won only half the vote in traditionally liberal Boulder County.
The Nevada initiative was similar to the one in Colorado. Question 7 would have allowed Nevada residents 21 years of age or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana but was being rejected by about 56 percent of voters.
In South Dakota, Initiated Measure 4 was patterned after laws in 11 states legalizing marijuana for medical usage. Passage looked doubtful, with 141,734 votes against legalized use compared with 127,713 votes in favor, a 53-47 margin.