CBS News
Abortion rights ballot measures to go before Missouri and Arizona voters in November
Petitions to put abortion rights on the ballot in Missouri and Arizona were officially approved this week, adding to a growing list of states where reproductive rights will be before voters in November.
Both ballot measures would amend their respective state’s constitutions to enshrine the right to an abortion after the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022, prompting state-by-state action on the issue.
In Missouri, supporters of abortion rights have been pushing to amend the state constitution to allow abortion in the state, where a near-total ban is currently in place. To qualify for the ballot, roughly 170,000 signatures from six out of eight congressional districts were required. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certified that the petition had enough support to appear on the ballot.
The ballot measure will present Missouri voters with an opportunity to amend the constitution to establish a right to “make and carry out decisions” about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, while removing the state’s current abortion restrictions. It would allow abortion to be restricted or banned after fetal viability is reached with exceptions related to the health of the patient.
Tori Schafer, the director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said voting “yes” on the ballot measure will end the state’s abortion restrictions and “restore our freedom and dignity to make decisions around pregnancy and abortion.”
“Right now, Missouri has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country, and it only took politicians a matter of minutes to enforce the ban when Roe fell,” Schafer said, adding that the restrictions have had “devastating consequences.” “Missourians have the power to change this. This November, we have the opportunity to make our voices heard by passing Amendment 3.”
Sue Liebel, Midwestern regional director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the Missouri ballot measure “would end thousands of lives.”
“Missouri would become as radical as California in allowing horrific late-term abortions and forcing the taxpayer to fund them,” Liebel said.
On Monday, Arizona joined the list of states adding abortion to the ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment, if approved, would enshrine a right to an abortion in the state’s constitution and would also prohibit punishment against anyone who assists a person in getting an abortion.
REBECCA NOBLE / Getty Images
The Arizona measure required 383,923 signatures. Organizers said in July that they submitted an unprecedented 823,685 signatures amid controversy surrounding the possibility of a near-total ban stemming from an 1864 law that only allowed exceptions to save the mother’s life. Abortion is currently restricted in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“Thousands of local volunteers, and dozens of organizations focused on reproductive rights, healthcare, faith communities, and veterans rights, not to mention millions of Arizonans have been looking forward to this day for more than a year,” Chris Love, a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access, said in a statement released on Monday.
Abortion related measures will also appear on ballots in Florida, Colorado, South Dakota, New York, Maryland and Nevada. Similar efforts are under way in other states as well, but they have not yet been officially approved.
The push for statewide abortion protections follows the 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision that upended federal protections for the procedure, leading to a patchwork of access across the nation. Since then, Democrats have coalesced around the issue, making abortion rights central to campaigns up and down the ballot. And in previous years, abortion measures have appeared to drive voters to the ballot box, giving Democrats an edge in key races.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
CBS News
The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”