Question One
Originally Published: October 10, 2024
What Is It?
A proposed amendment to Maryland’s Constitution will appear on the general election ballot this year as Question 1, Declaration of Rights - Right to Reproductive Freedom. Voters can elect to vote For or Against the Constitutional Amendment, which reads:
“The proposed amendment confirms an individual’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end the individual’s pregnancy, and provides the State may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge, the right unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
The language was added to this year’s ballot after HB705, and its cross-file in the Senate SB798, passed the state legislature during the 2023 legislative session. After the United States Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending the constitutional right to abortion, states across the country moved to restore it. Voters in Ohio and Michigan have recently voted to uphold the right to reproductive autonomy, while courts in Kansas and Montana have ruled similarly. According to the Pew Research Center, as of April 2024, 63% of Americans said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A University of Maryland, Baltimore County poll, released on Tuesday, showed 69% of Marylanders plan to vote in favor of Question 1.
The lead opposition, Health Not Hard MD, alleges the amendment allows minors to consent to “predatory and experimental medical procedures,” according to their website. The group is a registered political action committee, and has received donations from 2022 Republican Gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, Maryland Coalition for Life, Republican Women of Worcestor County, among others listed on campaign finance reports. All told, the PAC has raised approximately $80K to oppose the amendment. To support its claims, the PAC cites Senate floor testimony from the debate on SB798. Senator Brian Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) introduced an amendment to include specific language prohibiting a minor consenting to “alteration of their reproductive anatomy” without parental permission. Simonaire’s amendment was defeated because it was not relevant to the subject of the bill. Under existing law there are few exceptions that would allow minors to consent to surgery without parental consent, and gender reassignment surgery is not among them.
There is no link between removing parental rights and Question 1 other than Senator Simonaire’s argumentative reach using the dog whistle of gender affirming care. Locally, only Delegate Crosby voted in support of allowing Marylanders to decide on the 2024 ballot.
View the legislation’s history here: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/.../Legisl.../Details/HB0705/...
