More Than a Simple Majority - 10/23/26

Voters in both North and South Dakota will consider safeguards against abortion amendments. The proposals on the ballot would require 60% voter approval for all future constitutional amendments on any subject. Pro-life organizations are urging voters to support both measures. North Dakota's Measure 1 and South Dakota's Amendment L would require approval from at least 60% of voters, instead of just a simple majority, to amend their state constitutions. State lawmakers from both states have referred these proposals to voters, and neither is strictly limited to abortion.

We have watched the abortion lobby use well-funded ballot campaigns to place abortion rights into state constitutions across the country, said Bridget Turbide, executive director of North Dakota Right to Life. Voting yes on Measure 1 will significantly reduce the likelihood that that same strategy succeeds in North Dakota. Dale Barcher of South Dakota Right to Life joined Republican State Representative John Hughes and Nathan Sanderson of South Dakota Realtors in supporting Amendment L in the state's official voter pamphlet. A simple majority works well for ordinary laws, but a higher threshold is needed for changing our Constitution, they said.

In other news, Pope Leo invites young people to World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea, as registration for the event opens up. He calls each of you by name. Today is also the feast of the Lord. of St. John of Capistrano, a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest. Famous as a preacher and inquisitor, he earned the nickname the Soldier Saint when in 1456, at the age 70, he led a crusade against the invading Ottoman Empire. I'm Josh Mercer, editor of The Loop, taking you behind the headlines.

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