Abortion on the Ballot

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, voters have come out strongly in support of reproductive freedom. Abortion-related measures have succeeded every time they’ve appeared on the ballot thus far, with voters rejecting attempts by extremist politicians to interfere with their personal health care decisions.

This November, voters will have a chance to weigh in on abortion rights in several more states.

As of now, these states will have constitutional amendments on their ballots this year that protect abortion in some way:

• Arizona: The voter-initiated Proposition 139, the Arizona Abortion Access Act, would amend the state constitution to create a “fundamental right” to receive abortion care up until fetal viability, with exceptions after that if a health care professional decides it’s needed to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.”
• Colorado: The citizen-led Colorado Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative, would create a constitutional right to abortion and remove the state’s public funding ban.
• Florida: The state’s citizen-led ballot initiative, the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, would create a constitutional amendment to protect Floridians’ freedom to access abortion.
• Maryland: Maryland voters will have the opportunity to cast their ballot on the Reproductive Freedom referendum, which would amend the state’s constitution to ensure that everyone has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion access and birth control.
• Missouri: Abortion is currently banned in Missouri, but voters have the chance to remove that ban with Amendment 3, the Missouri Right to Reproductive Freedom. The voter-initiated measure would amend the state constitution to make abortion and other reproductive health care a fundamental right.
• Montana: Montana’s voter-initiated Right to Abortion Initiative,  CI-128, would amend the state constitution to enshrine the “right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.”
• Nebraska: The citizen-led Nebraska Right to Abortion Initiative would enshrine in the state constitution the right to have an abortion until viability or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman. A conflicting proposal would bar abortions in the second and third trimesters, with exceptions for medical emergency, sexual assault and incest.
• Nevada: Nevada Question 6, the Right to Abortion Initiative, would amend the state constitution to provide the right to an abortion. The voter-initiated measure would allow the state to regulate abortion after fetal viability, except where medically indicated to “protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
• New York: The New York State Equal Rights Amendment would add protections for people who experience discrimination and explicitly prohibit discrimination by the government based on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. It would also protect against any government actions that would curtail a person’s reproductive autonomy or their access to reproductive health care.
• South Dakota: Abortion is currently illegal in South Dakota, but its citizens are seeking to change that with the South Dakota Freedom Amendment. The voter-initiated measure would “restore protections of Roe v. Wade” and establish a right to abortion before 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion-related ballot initiatives were on the ballot in seven states in 2022 and 2023—and in all seven states, voters sided in favor of abortion rights.  

Voters in four of those states approved proactive constitutional amendments enshrining reproductive freedom in their state constitutions: 

>> Ohio >> Michigan >> California >> Vermont 

Voters defeated anti-abortion ballot measures in three states: 

>> Kansas >> Kentucky >> Montana

Check back with the Center for more news on 2024 abortion-related ballot measures!