When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade In June 2022, it ended the constitutional right to abortion and returned the power to regulate the procedure to the states. Now, with a heated presidential election leading to a victory for Donald Trump, a handful of states have decided to enshrine reproductive rights in their state constitutions.
On Tuesday, Americans in 10 states voted on ballot initiatives to protect or expand abortion access. Seven of these states successfully passed protections, showing that restrictive abortion policies are widely unpopular.
Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York have passed referendums supporting abortion rights, but measures to restore or expand abortion rights have failed in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Passage of these bills would not change access to abortion in those states, as abortion is already legal until viable in Maryland, Montana, and New York, and without restrictions throughout pregnancy in Colorado.
Nevada currently allows abortions up to 24 weeks, but a ballot initiative passed Tuesday would extend that to fetus viability. Voters would have to approve the measure again in 2026 to formally amend the state constitution.
Arizona and Missouri were two of many states that moved to restrict abortion access after repealing their abortion laws. Roe vs. Wade. Arizona banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but that law is now unconstitutional under a newly passed amendment. In Missouri, a trigger law was enacted that banned abortion at any stage of pregnancy except to save the life of the pregnant person. The law, one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the county, made no exceptions for rape or incest. But voters on Tuesday supported an amendment to the Missouri Constitution to repeal the abortion ban and protect abortion access.
In Florida, an amendment banning laws restricting abortion received 57% of the vote, short of the 60% threshold needed for passage. The state currently bans abortions in the sixth week of pregnancy and has other abortion restrictions in place.
Meanwhile, Nebraska voters weighed competing ballot measures on abortion rights, ultimately passing one supporting a ban on abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy. Voters in South Dakota rejected a proposal to protect abortion rights and kept a near-total ban in place.
