Eight States Have Added Abortion to November Ballots. What Would the Measures Do?
Election officials in Montana certified an abortion rights question for its November ballot and the Arizona Supreme Court turned away a legal challenge, allowing a similar measure to go before voters.
This week’s decisions mean citizens in at least eight states will be deciding abortion measures this fall, potentially attracting even more voters to the polls in an election where the presidency, control of Congress, and some key state contests are also on the line.
There have been legal fights across the country on whether to allow voters to decide these questions — and the exact words used on the ballots and explanatory material.
The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion in 2022, launching a national push to have voters decide.
Most Republican-controlled states have passed abortion restrictions since then, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access.
Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions before voters since 2022 — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters.
What Is on 2024 Ballots?
Montana
Montana’s secretary of state announced Tuesday that an abortion question had qualified for its ballot.
If it passes, it would amend the state constitution to bar the government from denying the right to abortion before viability — generally considered to be about 23 or 24 weeks’ gestational age — or when it is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
After a legal battle over the ballot language, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the language that would appear if enough valid signatures were certified. Required to submit about 60,000 signatures by June 21, sponsors turned in nearly twice that many — about 117,000 — and said counties validated more than enough signatures.
Abortion is already legal until viability in the state under a 1999 Montana Supreme Court opinion.
Arizona
Voters in Arizona will decide in November whether to amend the state constitution to add the right to an abortion up to about 24 weeks into pregnancy. The Arizona secretary of state’s office said on August 12 that it had certified enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot.
The state’s top court has weighed in on the details multiple times this month. It ruled that an informational pamphlet can refer to an embryo or fetus as an “unborn human being” even though this language isn’t in the amendment and won’t appear on the ballot itself. The court’s latest ruling, on Tuesday, keeps the measure on the ballot, rejecting Arizona Right to Life’s argument that the petition summary was misleading.
The amendment would prevent Arizona from banning abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb, and would allow later abortions to protect a woman’s physical or mental health. Opponents say this goes too far and could lead to unlimited and unregulated abortions in Arizona. Supporters say it would keep abortion access free from political interference.
Abortion is currently legal for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona.
Colorado
Colorado’s top election official confirmed in May that a measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, along with requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover abortion, made the ballot for the fall election.
Supporters said they gathered nearly double the required number of signatures needed.
Amending the state constitution requires the support of 55% of voters.
Abortion is already legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado.
Florida
The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a measure to legalize abortion until viability could go on the ballot despite a legal challenge from the state. Attorney General Ashley Moody had argued that there are differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not properly defined.
To pass, the measure needs support from at least 60% of voters, a high threshold that supporters hope to reach after collecting nearly a million signatures on the petition to get it on the ballot.
Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first 6 weeks of pregnancy under a law that took effect May 1.
Maryland
Maryland voters also will be asked this year to enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. Abortion is already allowed in Maryland until viability.
Missouri
Missouri voters will decide whether to guarantee a right to abortion with a constitutional amendment that would reverse the state’s near-total ban.
The secretary of state’s office certified on August 13 that an initiative petition received more than enough signatures from registered voters to qualify. It will need approval from a majority of voters to become enshrined in the state constitution.
The Missouri ballot measure would create a right to abortion until “there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.” The ballot measure would allow abortions after fetal viability if a healthcare professional determines it’s necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
Nevada
The Nevada secretary of state’s office announced in June that a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution met all the requirements to appear in front of voters in November.
This amendment would ensure abortion access for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy — or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman. To change the constitution, voters would need to approve it in 2024 and again in 2026.
Abortion up until viability is already allowed in Nevada under a law passed in 1990.
South Dakota
South Dakota voters will decide this fall on a constitutional amendment that would prevent any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.
The measure would allow the state in the second trimester to “regulate the pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its effectuation only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” Abortion could be prohibited in the third trimester, provided there are exceptions for the life and health of the woman.
Opponents have sued to try to take the initiative off the ballot or block results from being counted. A trial on the challenge could be held in September.
What’s on the Ballot in New York?
While not preserving a right to abortion by name, a reproductive rights question is on the ballot in New York. The measure would bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive healthcare,” along with sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and disability.
Proponents say it would protect abortion access, which is currently allowed in New York until fetal viability. And Democrats have sued to have the word “abortion” added to the ballot measure. It’s unclear when a ruling might come, but the Board of Elections must certify what’s on the ballot by September 11.
There have been twists and turns to get the question before voters. It was on the ballot, then removed in May by a judge who found lawmakers missed a procedural step when they put it there. An appeals court reinstated it in June.
Where Else Could Abortion Possibly Be on the Ballot in 2024?
Nebraska
Competing abortion measures could be decided by Nebraska voters in November after supporters turned in far more than the required 123,000 signatures.
One would enshrine the right to abortion until viability. Supporters said they submitted more than 207,000 signatures. The other would write into the constitution the current law, which bans abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Its backers said they submitted more than 205,000 signatures.
If both measures are certified for the ballot, the one that gets more votes will become part of the state constitution so long as it also has more “yes” than “no” votes.
Arkansas
Activists submitted petitions to put an amendment on the Arkansas ballot that would block lawmakers from restricting abortion access during the first 20 weeks of gestation. Arkansas now bans abortion at any time during a pregnancy, unless it’s necessary to protect the mother’s life in a medical emergency.
State election officials rejected the petitions, citing paperwork deficiencies. Advocates then sued, asking the state Supreme Court to order officials to count the signatures.
