On November 5th, 2024, New York State voters found an option to vote for Proposition One, or the Equal Rights Amendment, to be enacted into state law. Prop One guaranteed abortion rights and reproductive healthcare for all New York State residents. Prop One easily passed and made its way into law, just two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision repealed Roe v. Wade, abolishing federal abortion rights.
New York is just one example of how state ballot initiatives are being used to win back abortion rights in a post-Roe landscape. Some have succeeded, like in Ohio. Other states are caught in back and forth ballot battles. Like Missouri, which protected abortion under Amendment 3 in 2024, and finds a measure asking voters to repeal those same protections in 2026…also under the name “Amendment 3.”
Here to talk about this issue and how ballot measures are shaping the November general election is the Policy and Legal Advocacy Director at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Jennifer Parrish Taylor. BISC is an infrastructure organization that helps organizations fighting for reproductive justice, the rights of marginalized communities, and others utilize ballot measures across the United States.
From this episode:
- The Deaths ICE Doesn’t Count – Mother Jones
- Ballot Initiative Strategy Center
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Episode Guests
Jennifer Parrish Taylor is a seasoned policy and advocacy leader with over 15 years of experience advancing social equity and driving systemic change. As a daughter of a teacher and a public civil servant, her commitment to service runs deep; for her, Audre Lorde’s words, “the master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house” are a clarion call to action, that the old ways and systems of how we currently do things, will not get us to liberation, they must be remixed or pulled down all together.
Hailing from Portland, OR, Jennifer has spent the past ten years in her hometown, leading initiatives to advance racial equity in Oregon. Jennifer designed and implemented policy campaigns aimed at eliminating barriers to employment, education, health, and economic opportunity for Black communities. Her expertise in coalition building and grassroots mobilization has earned her recognition as a trusted leader in social justice.
A graduate of Smith College with a degree in African-American Studies, Jennifer received a master’s in Public Policy and Political Science at Portland State University. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to empowering marginalized communities and advancing justice through data-driven policy solutions.