Abortion Rights Measure Passes After Ballot Recount

A Washington state ballot initiative that writes into state law the abortion rights established under the federal Roe vs. Wade decision has passed by the narrowest of margins after a recount of the Nov. 5 election ballots.

Final results released Friday showed 756,812 votes for the measure and 752,588 against.

The measure originally was considered a shoo-in in the state, where abortion rights guarantees date back to 1970. But support waned in the days prior to the election, and the first count was so close that a recount was triggered.

Supporters of the measure, Initiative 120, blamed the close finish on voter confusion about what the measure actually would do. They claimed that a new state law is necessary in the event that Roe vs. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. “I think we made perhaps an assumption early on that Washington state voters knew more about the right to choose than they really did,” said Esther Herst of the state chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Opponents of the measure, including the Washington State Catholic Conference and fundamentalist Christian denominations, said the ballot proposition was unnecessary because state law already permitted abortions.

Another reason offered by political observers here for the narrow outcome was Initiative 120’s appearance on the ballot alongside a far more controversial proposition that would have legalized euthanasia in Washington state. The “Death With Dignity” initiative was defeated 54% to 46%.