Kentucky voters REJECT anti-abortion amendment: Pro-choice wins in Michigan, California, Vermont

Kentucky voters narrowly rejected an amendment that would have enshrined anti-abortion language in their state constitution, the Associated Press projects on Wednesday morning.

The deep red state's pro-choice referendum stands in stark contrast with its Republican-led legislature's anti-abortion views.

Republican lawmakers there had passed a 'trigger law,' which went into effect banning almost all instances of the medical procedure after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

However, it's not yet a decisive victory for pro-choice activists so much as an expressed rejection of Kentucky Republicans' agenda.

The decision on whether to strike down the abortion ban falls with the state Supreme Court, which is hearing challenges to it next week from Kentucky's two remaining abortion clinics.

Kentucky Republicans would have gotten a boost in their case if the provision had passed, because it would have put language explicitly banning abortion in the state constitution where currently there is none.

The Kentucky Supreme Court already allowed the ban to stay in place while the case worked its way through the legal system.

Pro-choice measures were also adopted in Michigan, California and Vermont.

Abortion rights at the state level saw no serious threats in California and Vermont, but in battleground Michigan, the vote could prove consequential in years' time.

Pro-choice supporters are seen cheering at a Louisville, Kentucky watch party on Tuesday night. The race for the anti-abortion ballot measure was called on Wednesday morning

Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who survived her own electoral challenge from Republican Tudor Dixon on Tuesday night, previously vetoed anti-abortion measures by Michigan's GOP-led legislature.

By enshrining the right to 'reproductive freedom' in the state constitution, it gives Michiganders safeguards against future GOP-led efforts to ban or limit the medical procedure. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who comfortably won his re-election bid, called the codifying of abortion rights 'a point of pride' for his state.

The pro-choice votes were overwhelming there and in Vermont. As of late on Wednesday morning, 65 percent of California voters voted in favor of the right to reproductive freedom while 35 percent voted against it, with just over 40 percent of the votes in.

More than three-quarters of Vermonters voted for 'a constitutional right to person reproductive autonomy.'

The tally was significantly closer in Michigan, with the abortion safeguard passing on less than a 10-point margin with just under 90 percent of the votes in.

Kentucky, the latest to be called, saw 52.5 percent of people rejecting the amendment to codify anti-abortion legislation.

Women cheer as they hear early voting results indicating the passage of Proposal 3, a midterm ballot measure that enshrines abortion rights, during a Reproductive Freedom For All watch party on U.S. midterm election night in Detroit, Michigan

More than three-quarters of Vermonters voted for their own ballot measure to codify abortion rights in the state constitution

Just over 47 percent were in favor. 

At the same time, Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul comfortably won re-election on Tuesday night - likely meaning that voters chose to back his party yet buck its stance on abortion on the same ticket. 

It follows a similar situation in Kansas, where primary voters shattered expectations over the summer, turning out in droves to reject a ballot measure that would have paved the way for Kansas' red legislature to curb abortion. 

A flurry of ballot measures across the country have sought to take on the abortion issue ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

Activists on both sides have seen such public votes as an avenue to advance their goals, though pro-choice sentiments have largely won through so far.

The American Civil Liberties Union cheered deep red Kentucky's pro-abortion vote.

'Kentucky voters just defeated Constitutional Amendment 2, rejecting an attempt to ban all abortion in the state,' the ACLU said.

'Voters in Kentucky made it clear: Abortion is our RIGHT — and politicians don’t belong in our private medical decisions.'