Maryland Question 6, Changes to Abortion Law Referendum (1992)

Maryland Question 6
Election date November 3, 1992
Topic Abortion
Status a Approved
Type Referendum	Origin Citizens

Maryland Question 6, the Changes to Abortion Law Referendum, was on the ballot in Maryland as a veto referendum on November 3, 1992. The ballot measure was approved, thus upholding Senate Bill 162.

A "yes" vote was to uphold the contested legislation, Senate Bill 162, which said "the state may not interfere with the decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy" before fetal viability.

A "no" vote was to repeal the contested legislation, Senate Bill 162, thus rejecting a change to the state's abortion laws.

Election results

Maryland Question 6
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		1,114,377	61.74%
No		690,542	38.26%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Question 6 change about abortion law in Maryland?

Question 6, a veto referendum on SB 162, was a vote on whether to enact or reject the legislation. A "yes" vote was to uphold SB 162, and a "no" vote was to reject SB 162. On November 3, 61.74% of voters cast "yes" votes, thus upholding and enacting SB 162.

SB 162 said "the state may not interfere with the decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy" before fetal viability. SB 162 also said that the state could not interfere with a woman's abortion decision at any time during pregnancy when an abortion is “necessary to protect the life or health of the woman” or the fetus is “affected by genetic defect or seriously deformity or abnormality."

Before voters approved Question 6, the state’s then-existing law predated Roe v. Wade and prohibited abortion except for pregnancies resulting from rape, pregnancies that pose a risk to the mother’s life or health, or pregnancies in which the child is likely to be born with “grave and permanent physical deformity or mental retardation.”

How was Question 6 placed on the ballot?

Question 6 was a veto referendum on Senate Bill 162, which the Maryland General Assembly approved in 1991. Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D) signed the bill on February 18, 1991. Gov. Schaefer said, "It's not a happy occasion. I had great difficulty with it, [but] I think the bill is right." Del. Peter Franchot, who supported SB 162, said, "It establishes Maryland as a national leader in speaking out for women." Del. Marsha G. Perry, who opposed SB 162, said, "We will find Maryland to be the abortion mill of the East."

The Vote Know Coalition filed a veto referendum to place the legislation before voters. The campaign needed to collect 33,373 valid signatures. On June 1, the campaign filed 30,687 signatures, and 26,013 were deemed valid. On June 27, proponents filed an additional 112,935 signatures. The State Board of Elections announced that enough signatures were collected for the veto referendum on July 22. Officials stopped counting when 53,988 were declared valid. As enough signatures were verified, SB 162 was suspended until voters decided the issue on November 3, 1992.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Abortion Law Revision Revises Maryland's abortion law to prohibit State interference with woman's abortion decision before fetus is viable, or, under certain conditions, at any time and to provide certain exceptions to the requirement that a physician notify an unmarried minor's parent or guardian prior to minor's abortion; repeals pre-abortion information requirements about abortion alternatives; repeals some, and clarifies other, provisions related to abortion referral; requires that abortions be performed by licensed physicians; provides good-faith immunity under certain conditions to physicians performing abortions; authorizes State to adopt abortion regulations; repeals certain penalty and disciplinary provisions related to the performance of abortions.

”

Full text

Question 6 was a veto referendum on Senate Bill 162 (1991). The following is the text of SB 162:

Support for a "Yes" vote

Arguments

• James Guest, chairperson of the Campaign to Save the Right to Choose: "What we’re trying to do is preserve existing rights. What they’re trying to do is change existing rights. They’re trying to take them away, to go back to 1973."

Support for a "No" vote

Arguments

• Art Sawyer, spokesperson for the Vote Know Coalition: "I think that this law is so extreme that there are people around the state who have in the past felt that abortion should be kept legal, but not under these extreme circumstances."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the referendum process in Maryland

In Maryland, the number of signatures required for a veto referendum is equal to 3 percent of the total number of votes cast for the governor in the preceding election. In 1992, the number of valid signatures required was 33,373.

The Vote Know Coalition filed a veto referendum to place the legislation before voters. On June 1, the campaign filed 30,687 signatures, and 26,013 were deemed valid. On June 27, proponents filed an additional 112,935 signatures. The State Board of Elections announced that enough signatures were collected for the veto referendum on July 22. Officials stopped counting when 53,988 were declared valid. As enough signatures were verified, SB 162 was suspended until voters decided the issue on November 3, 1992.

See also

1992 Measures

• 1992 Measures
• Abortion on the ballot
• 1992 legislative sessions

Maryland

• Maryland ballot measures
• Maryland ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls