After a year of legal battles, countercampaigns, and bureaucratic wrangling, abortion issues will now go to the floor in November in 10 states.
After federal abortion laws were struck down in June 2022, Kansas voters got a chance to weigh in on a legislative initiative that would have been a test balloon just months later. Contrary to expectations, nearly 60% of voters rejected constitutional amendment banning abortion.
Since then, voters in states with both conservative and liberal constituencies have either rejected abortion restrictions or secured the right to have an abortion. Most of these successful campaigns were led by coalitions of doctors, advocates, and ordinary people who disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down federal abortion rights.
The issue is on the ballot in five states in November 2022. Americans in California, Michigan AND Vermont have inserted a right to a range of reproductive health care services into their state constitutions during midterm elections, while voters in Montana rejected the bill containing anti-abortion rhetoric and Kentucky Voters overwhelmingly rejected an amendment that sought to declare that nothing in the state constitution guarantees a right to abortion.
Then last year, faced with a Republican trifecta in state government where many legislators held anti-abortion positions, reproductive rights advocates in Ohio took matters into their own hands and began effort to regulate the right to abortion, contraception, infertility treatment, miscarriage care and perinatal care.
Despite obstacles posed by Republican Party officials who tried to escalate threshold to add an amendment to the Ohio Constitution, Issue 1 was released in NovemberNearly 57% of voters in the Buckeye State supported reproductive rights.
Elected officials elsewhere are also playing their role in blocking abortion petitions. Missouri Attorney General tried to get the state auditor to inflate the estimated cost of the initiative, and the secretary of state produced vote totals that they judged released as biased last year. (Abortion rights supporters are suing again over the same issue, Missouri Independent (reported.)
In Arkansas, Republican Secretary of State John Thurston refused to count all the signatures on an abortion rights petition, citing technical errors in the paperwork, according to Arkansas spokesman. After a five-week legal battle — on the day Thurston was due to send certified votes to counties — the state Supreme Court upheld his position. Arkansans for Limited Government, the group behind the ballot initiative, said the justices’ recent 4-3 ruling silenced more than 102,000 people who signed the initiative, The spokesman informed.
Another strategy used by opponents: “refuse to sign“Campaigns have appeared in Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri and South Dakota.
Democrats have pledged to restore abortion rights nationally if they retain the White House and gain seats in Congress in the upcoming elections, while Republican leaders have said they do not support a nationwide ban.
As it stands, however, 10 states have put abortion-rights questions on the Nov. 5 ballot. Lawsuits are underway to overturn them until throughout the country.
Arizona
Abortion is illegal after 15 weeks in Arizona unless the patient’s life is in danger. There are no exceptions for rape, incest or genetic abnormalities.
Proposition 139 will ask voters whether they want to allow abortions up to the point of viability, with exceptions later in pregnancy for the patient’s life, physical or mental health. The amendment would also prevent criminal penalties for helping someone have an abortion. Arizona for access to abortion is behind this initiative.
Colorado
In Colorado, abortion is legal throughout pregnancy, but in 1984 the state banned spending public money on abortions. State employee insurance does not cover abortion care.
Initiative 89Titled “The Right to Abortion,” the bill could effectively overturn a 40-year-old ban on covering medical costs if 55 percent of voters support the amendment. Coloradoans for Reproductive Freedom leads these efforts.
Florida
In Florida, abortion is illegal after six weeks, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the patient’s life.
Amendment 4 would prohibit government interference with access to abortion before the fetus is viable or the provider deems the procedure necessary to save the person’s health. Sixty percent of voters must approve the measure, which would not remove the requirement for minors seeking abortions to notify their parents. Floridians Protect Freedom is behind this campaign.
Maryland
In March 2023, the Democratic-controlled parliament voted in favor referendum that put the “Reproductive Rights Act” before voters this fall. Abortion is generally legal in Maryland.
Question 1 would enshrine the right to “reproductive freedom,” including the right to make “decisions about preventing, continuing, or terminating” a pregnancy. The proposed amendment would also prevent the state from interfering with that right in most cases.
Missouri
Abortion is legal in Missouri only for medical emergencies. Restrictions on clinics and providers made access challenging in the state before the Dobbs decision, Missouri Independent reported.
Amendment 3If approved by a plain majority, it would legalize abortion until the fetus is viable outside of pregnancy, with exceptions later in pregnancy to protect the life or physical or mental health of a pregnant person. It also states that patients and providers cannot be prosecuted for abortion. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom is the political action committee behind the initiative.
Montana
Montana Supreme Court 1999 ruling strengthened access to abortion based on the state’s constitutional right to privacy and in 2023 decision confirmed the precedent, ruling at the same time that advanced practice nurses can provide abortion. Yet the Republican-controlled legislature has enacted abortion restrictions that are largely blocked by the courts, (*10*)Everyday Montanan reported.
CI-128 calls on voters to continue to enshrine in the state constitution the right to make decisions about pregnancy, including abortion up to the point of viability, without government regulation. The amendment would include exceptions later in pregnancy to protect the life or health of patients, as determined by providers. Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights led the referendum effort.
Nebraska
Last year, a ban on abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy was introduced. Protect our rights In November, a campaign was launched for an amendment that would extend access to benefits until a person is fit to practice independently, as determined by their provider, with later exceptions for the health of the mother.
Protect women and children announced a counter-effort this spring to a competing constitutional amendment that would ban abortion after the first trimester (12 to 14 weeks), with later exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother. That would allow legislators to pass tougher bans in the future.
If both questions go to a vote and are approved by voters, the one that receives the most votes wins. Nebraska Examiner reported.
Nevada
In 1990, Nevada voters secured the right to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy or longer if the mother’s life is in danger. Question 6 would ask voters to enshrine similar rights in the Constitution — making it harder for lawmakers to change. If passed, the amendment would protect access to abortion until a fetus is viable or later to protect the life or health of a patient, Nevada Current reported.
The proposal is being brought forward by Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition that would need to be approved twice — once this year and again in 2026.
New York
Abortion is legal in New York until 24 weeks of pregnancyand abortions after this date must be approved by doctors who decide whether the fetus is viable or whether the patient’s life or health is at risk.
Proposal 1legislative referendum, asking voters whether they want to add an equal rights amendment to the constitution. If approved, it would prohibit discrimination based on sex, including “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy.” Supporters say it would add protections to abortion rights.
South Dakota
In South Dakota, abortion is illegal unless it is necessary to save the patient’s life. Dakotans for health led efforts to expand access.
Amendment G asks voters whether to prohibit lawmakers from regulating abortions through the end of the first trimester, allow regulation in the second trimester “in a manner that is reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman” and allow the state to ban abortions in the third trimester unless the procedure is necessary to save the life or health of a pregnant patient.
