BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) – Some supporters of a ballot measure to require at least 60% voter support to change North Dakota’s constitution say the move would help block a potential abortion rights initiative in the future.
Opponents say the measure would make it harder to pass any constitutional amendment, giving more power to a minority of voters.
North Dakota Right to Life and figures such as North Dakota’s Catholic bishops are among those urging “yes” votes on Measure 1. State Sen. Janne Myrdal, an anti-abortion leader in the Legislature, said she expects the Washington, D.C.-based Fairness Project or another out-of-state group will support a ballot initiative to add abortion rights to North Dakota’s constitution in 2028.
“That is their stated intention, and that’s been their intention all along, is from what we’re seeing now,” said Myrdal, R-Edinburg.
The Fairness Project has spent more than $1.6 million to defeat Measure 1, according to online campaign finance filings as of Friday.
The organization did not immediately respond to North Dakota Monitor emails for comment. Measure 1 supporters have cited statements on the organization’s website, such as: “We’re running progressive policies in red states — and we’re winning.” Its website lists a Virginia reproductive rights measure among its campaigns.
North Dakota has a near-total ban on abortion.
In the group’s 2023-2024 Impact Report, the Fairness Project describes defeating North Dakota’s Measure 2 in 2024 — a measure Myrdal introduced that would have added several requirements amounting to a higher bar to amend the state constitution, such as a single-subject requirement, more ballot initiative petition signatures and approval in two elections.
The report said: “We won with 57% of the vote, keeping North Dakota on the map for a future abortion ballot measure, minimum wage, paid sick leave, and more.”
The report also describes a constitutional initiative for abortion rights as “an option” for six states in 2026, including North Dakota. Such a measure did not emerge this year.
“We are not slowing down on our mission to protect reproductive rights in state constitutions by passing ballot measures wherever we can,” the nearly 2-year-old report said.
The 2023 Legislature banned the performance of an abortion as a felony crime. The only exceptions are in cases of rape or incest in the first six weeks, and to protect the life or health of the mother.
A lawsuit by North Dakota’s only abortion provider, since moved from Fargo to nearby Moorhead, Minnesota, ended last year when the state Supreme Court upheld the abortion ban. Though three of the five justices found the law to be unconstitutional, North Dakota requires four of the five justices to do so, a high bar rare among states.
Myrdal cited Prairie Action North Dakota Executive Director Amy Jacobson as an opponent to Measure 1. The Fairness Project’s report quotes Jacobson “as a state-based partner.”
Jacobson is a sponsor of Measure 2 to provide free school meals to K-12 students. She called the messaging about an abortion rights initiative “a fear tactic” that Myrdal and others are “using to try to motivate their base with a disingenuous message.”
“My only response would be that there’s nothing to indicate that that is happening, and that it is clearly an intentional tactic that they’re using to strike fear into their voters, and they’re not being honest,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson, also a member of a coalition that opposes Measure 1, said during an event this week that it would make any constitutional ballot measure difficult to pass. Another member of the coalition, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, wants to preserve constitutional ballot measures for possible public health issues, citing a recent South Dakota vote related to expanding Medicaid.
North Dakota Right to Life and Catholic Bishops John Folda of Fargo and David Kagan of Bismarck have urged voters to support Measure 1, citing other states where abortion rights amendments have passed with less than 60% of the vote, including neighboring Montana. They also referenced a 2024 Florida abortion rights measure that received 57% support but didn’t go into that state’s constitution because of a 60% requirement.
“A 60 percent threshold would provide an additional safeguard against constitutional changes that could undermine North Dakota’s commitment to protecting unborn children,” the bishops wrote in a social media post Friday.
Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong blasted the Fairness Project in a recent ad by StrongND, a group aligned with him.
“A radical, liberal special-interest group is pouring millions into North Dakota. Their goal? Running progressive policies in red states. Those are their words, not mine,” Armstrong said in the ad, which features the logos of Measure 1 endorsers such as North Dakota Right to Life.
“What we will see out of the Fairness Project in future elections is whatever their liberal donors want to run. I don’t know what that is,” Armstrong said in an interview with the Monitor.
The organization is not spending money in this election cycle to sit out the next one, he said.
“They’re not doing this out of the goodness of their heart. So whatever that is, I don’t think that will be something that Republicans in North Dakota support,” the governor said.
He said he is concerned about constitutionally mandated spending in future ballot initiatives. The governor acknowledged that all future constitutional amendments, even ones proposed by the Legislature, would need to reach 60% voter support to pass.
“That’s a good thing. Changing the constitution should be harder no matter who is proposing the change. It should take broad support from North Dakotans,” Armstrong said.
StrongND has spent more than $1.5 million to support Measure 1, according to online campaign finance filings as of Friday.
Measure 1 supporters have said North Dakota’s constitution should not be easy to change and needs a higher bar than a simple majority to do so. House Speaker Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield, sponsored the measure as a resolution in the Legislature last year. Blocking abortion rights was not his motivation to introduce the measure, he said.
“My main reason for doing it is that I believe our constitution is extremely important and needs to be protected and it should just be hard to change, no matter what the issue is,” Weisz said.
Opponents say the 60% threshold would trample on their rights and make it harder to enact change when the Legislature does not act as constituents wish.
The vast majority of constitutional amendments in recent years have passed with more than 60% support, including ones creating the Legacy Fund, crime victim rights, gubernatorial and legislative term limits and a congressional age limit.
Measure 1 needs a simple majority to pass.
Reach North Dakota Monitor reporter Jack Dura at [email protected].
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