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Constitutional Initiative
Constitutional Initiatives
(CI) have become
the primary vehicle
for the adoption of a state
Human Life Amendment.
Why a State
Constitutional Initiative?
The big issue with state legislatures
is that they are all very fragmented on Pro-Life.
They cannot even agree on one Pro-Life view so agreeing on
an amendment that would protect all unborn children is
just not likely. This
is one of those situations where the People have to take
it into their hands, bypassing their state legislature, in order to protect the Right to Life of unborn
children. Only some states allow a Constitutional
Initiative that allow the People to amend their state
constitution. This method has now become the primary
vehicle for change.
Two Ways to add a
State Human Life Amendment .
State Constitutional
Amendments normally are introduced through one's
State Legislature.
In some states a People's
Constitutional Initiative gives the People the
right to add to or alter their constitution by introducing
an amendment. This process normally goes through a
petition phase to gather enough signatures of voters to
put the amendment on a state-wide ballot vote. Both
the legislative route and the People's Initiative have to
be approved by the voters in a state-wide election, then
and only then would an amendment become a part of the
state constitution. The People's Initiative is a
preferred method over state legislatures because it goes
directly to the people at a grassroots level bypassing an
often, very divisive political landscape within a state
legislature. In other words, it's darn hard to get
a state legislature to agree on anything!
Constitutional Initiative States
| Arizona |
Michigan |
Ohio |
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Arkansas |
Mississippi |
Oklahoma |
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California |
Missouri |
Oregon |
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Colorado |
Montana |
South
Dakota |
| Florida |
Nebraska |
U.S.
Virgin Islands |
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Illinois |
Nevada |
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Massachusetts |
North
Dakota |
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SOURCE: National Conference of
State Legislatures. Updated May 2009
Research Links
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