Abortion Ballot Measures Face Opposition Tied to Parental Rights and Anti-Trans Rhetoric

People in nine states are voting on whether to add abortion rights to their state constitutions. People who are against these measures are using parenting rights and anti-trans stories to try to get people not to support them. Even though the ballot measures don't name gender-affirming care, anti-abortion groups are trying to get conservative voters to help them by using similar arguments to those used in many Republican campaigns. Even though lawyers say that changing the rules about abortion or gender-affirming care would need to be done by the courts, billboards, pamphlets, and church materials still warn about threats to minors and stress parental rights.

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Matt Harris, a political science professor at Park University, said that reports that these amendments are linked to surgeries that change a child's gender are not accurate. Still, the plan is based on a more extensive cultural debate that people who are against it hope will hit home, especially in conservative Christian communities.

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A doctor in Nebraska named Dr. Alex Dworak said that these kinds of actions are part of a more significant trend of making trans children look bad to support cases against abortion. This method is similar to the ones that were used in the past in places like Ohio and Michigan, where voters still chose to protect abortion rights.

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Even though these things are said, new laws and amendments in states like Missouri and Nebraska have not yet changed parental permission laws or care that affirms a person's gender. Expert in the law David Cohen points out that these are old efforts to challenge reproductive rights.

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