The anti-abortion movement is making a big play to thwart citizen initiatives on reproductive rights

CHICAGO -- Reeling from a string of defeats, anti-abortion groups and their Republican allies in state governments are using an array of strategies to counter proposed ballot initiatives intended to protect reproductive rights or prevent voters from having a say in the fall elections.The tactics include attempts to get signatures removed from initiative petitions, legislative pushes for competing ballot measures that could confuse voters and monthslong delays caused by lawsuits over ballot initiative language.Abortion rights advocates say many of the strategies build off ones tested last year in Ohio, where voters eventually passed a constitutional amendment affirming reproductive rights.The strategies are being used in one form or another in at least seven states where initiatives aimed at codifying abortion and reproductive rights are proposed for the November ballot.

The fights over planned statewide ballot initiatives are the latest sign of the deep divisions created by the U.S.Supreme Court's decision two years ago to end a constitutional right to abortion.

This past week, the court issued a ruling in another major abortion case, unanimously upholding access to a drug used in the majority of U.S.abortions, although fights over mifepristone remain active in many states.The stakes for the proposed ballot initiatives are high for both sides.

Where Republicans control the legislature and enact strict abortion limits, a statewide citizens initiative is often the only avenue for protecting access to abortion and other reproductive rights.Voters have either enshrined abortion rights or turned back attempts to restrict it in all seven states where the question has been on the ballot since 2022.In South Dakota, lawmakers passed a bill allowing residents to withdraw their signatures on citizen-led petitions.

This launched a comprehensive effort by anti-abortion groups to invalidate a proposed abortion rights ballot measure by encouraging endorsers to withdraw signatu...