What To Know About Your State's Abortion Ballot Measures This Election
Ten states have 11 ballot measures about abortion this year. Here's what you need to know before voting.
In June of 2022, the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade, the federally protected right to abortion that had stood for nearly 50 years. In the absence of Roe, states, not the federal government, now largely regulate the legality of abortion, creating an uneven patchwork across the country. Some states were prepared, either with protections in place — via state constitutions or otherwise — or “trigger laws” that took effective immediately upon the reversal of Roe.
But later that year, six states put abortion on the state ballot. Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky all sought to ban or severely restrict abortion whereas California, Michigan, and Vermont posited writing abortion rights into their state constitutions, making further legislation far more difficult. In all six cases, abortion rights won the day. Ohio followed suit in 2023.
While the presidential election is, understandably, at the forefront of people’s minds in November 2024, 10 states have put forth 11 abortion related measures on the ballot. In most cases, a “Yes” vote would enshrine abortion rights into state constitutions. Furthermore, most of these amendments would bar legislation against abortion up to the point of “fetal viability” which is a technically hazy term but is generally agreed to be between 24 to 26 weeks. (In many instances, states would rely on a patient’s doctor to make a ruling on viability.)
Here’s what you need to know before casting your vote...
Arizona: Proposition 139
Right to Abortion Initiative
This measure would enshrine a right to abortion for all Arizonians prior to the point of fetal viability by amending the state constitution. The measure also provides a right to abortion after the point of fetal viability in order to protect the life and health (physical or mental) of the pregnant person. Additionally, doctors and others assisting a person obtain an abortion are protected by this amendment, specifically by prohibiting laws that would penalize them.
Currently — and after some political back-and-forth earlier this year — abortion is legal in Arizona up to 15 week gestation.
Learn more about Proposition 139.
Colorado: Amendment 79
Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative
This initiative prohibits either state or local governments for prohibiting or impeding the right for an individual to obtain abortion care by including the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. Moreover, Amendment 79 would repeal a 1984 law that prohibits public funds — such as state health insurance plans — to be used for abortion care.
Colorado is among the more liberal states in regard to abortion. It is one of just 10 states that do not have restrictions on when in a pregnancy someone can have an abortion. Abortions in Colorado can be performed by any qualified health professional, not just physicians, who are protected from other state’s abortion restrictions by shield laws. Colorado also has protections from harassment (physical and otherwise) for anyone entering an abortion clinic, but does require parental notification for minors seeking abortion care.
In the past 16 years Coloradans have voted against four measures that would restrict abortion rights— three that would have adopted fetal “personhood” language and one in 2020 that would have banned abortion at 22 weeks.
Learn more about Amendment 79.
Florida: Amendment 4
Right to Abortion Initiative
Voting YES on Amendment 4 supports a constitutional amendment that would permit abortion in the state until fetal viability or afterward in cases of patient health, which would be determined by their healthcare provider. “No law,” it says “shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict” abortion care. Republican governor Ron DeSantis has vociferously opposed this amendment.
Currently, Florida is one of the most restrictive states in regard to abortion access. Abortion is banned at 6 weeks and requires in-person counseling at least 24 hours before an abortion. There are numerous restrictions against obtaining medication abortion by mail, and parental notice and consent are required for minors.
Maryland: Question 1
Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment
This measure would amend Maryland’s Declaration of Rights in the state constitution to include a right to reproductive freedom, which would allow an individual to determine whether they want to continue, end, or prevent a pregnancy.
Few states are more protective of abortion rights than Maryland. While parents of minors do need to be informed of a minor’s abortion and some laws regarding abortion care facilities are stringent, state law does not place restrictions on when an abortion could take place. So why is this measure necessary? Katie O’Malley, Executive Director of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland and the state’s former First Lady told WMAR Baltimore that while a law “can be repealed if the political temperature in the state changes,” enshrining reproductive freedom into the state constitution makes abortion care harder to walk back.
Missouri: Amendment 3
Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative
Another constitutional amendment initiative, Amendment 3 would enshrine “the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.” It allows for the state legislature to make laws regarding abortion after the point of fetal viability (defining that as “in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the cases”) as long as those laws do not restrict abortions that would protect the life or health of a pregnant person.
Missouri currently has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country: abortion is completely banned with limited exceptions. It is also one of three states — along with Idaho and Kansas — who have filed a lawsuit against the FDA in an attempt to further restrict mifepristone, which is used in medication abortions.
Montana: CI-128
Right to Abortion Initiative
As in the case of Maryland, Montana is seeking to protect existing abortion laws by including explicit protections in the state constitution. This initiative would ensure the right to make decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including abortion, but would allow the state legislature to create regulations after the point of fetal viability, so long as there were exceptions for the life and health of the pregnant patient. Furthermore, the amendment prohibits penalizing or otherwise infringing upon the rights of an individual who aids or assists in providing abortion care.
Montana is one of the few states with relatively protective abortion laws, and the only state in its region with such protections, making it a destination for many out-of-staters seeking abortions. Abortion is legal up until the point of fetal viability. While parental notice is required for a minor's abortion, state Medicaid funds cover the procedure, which can be performed by any qualified healthcare professional.
Nebraska: Initiative 434 & Initiative 439
Nebraska is the one state with two, dueling abortion-related initiatives on the ballot, the first time this has happened in the state’s history or, indeed, anywhere in the U.S.
Initiative 434 is the Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester Amendment, which would amend the state constitution to ban abortions after the first trimester (12 weeks) with exceptions for a medical emergency, incest, or rape. The language of the law refers to fetuses as “unborn children.”
Initiative 439 is the Right to Abortion Initiative, which would establish a constitutional right to abortion up until the point of fetal viability.
Currently, abortion is banned in Nebraska after 12 weeks. Initiative 434 would enshrine that in the state constitution, making it more difficult for abortion rights activists to change that. Initiative 439 would expand abortion rights.
Learn more about Initiative 434.
Learn more about Initiative 439.
New York: Proposition 1
Equal Protection of Law Amendment
This amendment has a broader scope that those previously highlighted as it does not exclusively pertain to abortion or reproductive rights. Proposition 1 would prohibit a person's rights from being denied based on pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, enshrining a right to abortion care into the state constitution. Freedom from discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression would also be protected.
New York has some of the most robust pro-choice laws in the country, allowing abortion up to 24 weeks or fetal viability as determined by a healthcare provider.
Learn more about Proposition 1.
Nevada: Question 6
Right to Abortion Initiative
A yes vote on Question 6 supports establishing the right to an abortion in the Nevada Constitution, again, until fetal viability, or after in order to protect the life or well-being of the pregnant patient.
The Guttmacher Institute rates Nevada as a somewhat mixed state when it comes to abortion access and protections. While abortion is currently legal up to 24 weeks, only physicians can perform them. While there are few restrictions, there are also few explicit protections aside from two to protect patients and providers from harassment and prosecution (shield laws). By including the right to abortion into the state constitutions, protections would be harder to undo and loopholes fewer.
South Dakota: Constitutional Amendment G
Right to Abortion Initiative
Yet another amendment to a state constitution, Amendment G would prevent the state from regulating abortion before the end of the first trimester. Abortions in the second trimester could only be regulated “in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” Third trimester abortions could be prohibited with exceptions carved out for abortions necessary to preserve the life and health of a pregnant woman, as judged by her care provider. This amendment would override the states many current abortion restrictions.
Currently, abortion is all but completely banned in South Dakota. Even those who qualify for limited exceptions must go to a counseling appointment at least 72 hours before obtaining abortion care.
