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Anti-Abortion Measures Defeated in SD, CA, OR; Minimum Wage Increases Pass

Across the country, anti-abortion ballot measures were defeated and minimum wage increases passed in six states. The punitive ban on abortion in South Dakota, with no exceptions except to “prevent the death” of the woman, was defeated 56 to 44 percent. “This draconian ban was a threat to the lives and health of South Dakotan women, and its defeat is a tremendous victory,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which organized opposition to the ban on college campuses in South Dakota.

In California, voters rejected for the second time a ballot measure to mandate parental notification for young women seeking abortions. The measure was defeated by a vote of 54 to 46 percent. This is an even wider margin of defeat than in 2005, when the measure failed by a vote of 52.6 to 47.4 percent. Oregon voters also rejected a parental notification measure by a vote of 54 to 46 percent, with 66 percent of precincts reporting, according to CNN.

All six states (AZ, CO, MO, MT, NV, OH) with minimum wage increases on their ballots passed them with large margins, according to CNN. On the issue of same-sex marriage, bans were passed in Colorado, Idaho, Wisconsin, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The same-sex marriage ban in Arizona is still too close to call, with 51 percent opposing the ban, 49 percent voting for the ban, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, according to CNN. Colorado’s measure to allow domestic partnerships also failed, 53 to 47 percent.

Sources:

South Dakota Secretary of State 11/8/06; California Secretary of State 11/8/06; CNN.com 11/8/06

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