Voters in Alabama and West Virginia passed strong pro-life amendments to their state constitutions in ballot initiatives on Tuesday. In West Virginia, where Joe Manchin masquerades as a pro-life Democrat and pulled off a narrow victory, voters passed Amendment 1 by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. A 1993 state Supreme Court decision effectively mandated taxpayer funding for abortion in West Virginia by striking down a law prohibiting funding of abortion through Medicaid. According to state Delegate Kayla Kessinger, over 35,000 abortions have been paid for by West Virginia taxpayers since then. That ends with Amendment 1, which adds to
When American voters go to the polls tomorrow, they will not only be voting on candidates but also on many ballot measures put forward to address policy and regulatory issues at the state level. And in three particular states, these measures involve an especially critical issue: abortion. On Tuesday, voters in Oregon, West Virginia, and Alabama will be asked to decide whether or not to amend their states’ constitutions regarding the issue of abortion. The proposed amendments in Oregon and West Virginia are similar in that they both address the use of public funds to pay for abortion, while Alabama’s
With just over 100 days to go before election day, what’s the state of the battleground Senate races? The party which controls the White House usually loses seats in Congress in the first midterm after the presidential election. This year is unique in that Republicans could be poised to lose seats in the House while gaining seats in the Senate due to a highly favorable electoral map. There are 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election in states President Trump carried in 2016. Republicans are hoping to hold all their seats in the Senate and pick off a few Democrats for
This November, both Alabama and West Virginia will vote on proposed state constitutional amendments which stipulate that a right to abortion is not protected at the state level. Although both state legislatures approved the ballot measures last April and May, the two initiatives could have more immediate relevance than expected if Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed and the Supreme Court shifts toward a conservative majority. Since Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in late June, conservatives and liberals alike have speculated about the likelihood of a potential court reversal of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that
Sometimes, you don’t even need to be a politics whiz in order to win at PredictIt. You just have to read the rules. This week, I have a rules interpretation that could nearly double the smart reader’s investment. LOCK: Secretary John Kelly First to “Leave” Trump’s Cabinet Market: Will John F. Kelly (DHS) Be The First Person on Trump’s Cabinet List to Leave? Expiration Date: Soon The market for who will be first to leave President Trump’s cabinet is still open, despite Reince Priebus leaving last week and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly taking over as Chief of
Governors and other state executive officials have taken much-deserved flak for failing to support parents in their fight against the Common Core national standards. Too many of these officials, showing their disdain for parents who, after all, aren’t “experts,” have engaged in outright fraud — claiming to replace Common Core with state standards when in fact, they’ve just moved a few commas around and “rebranded” the national standards to make them sound home-grown. The same game played out this week in West Virginia. On Thursday, the West Virginia Board of Education voted to replace the Common Core standards with . .