Morning Digest: Our complete guide to every abortion ballot measure in 2024
Morning Digest: Our complete guide to every abortion ballot measure in 2024
Amendments to enshrine abortion rights will go before voters in 10 states
Measures to restore and protect the right to an abortion will go before voters in 10 different states this November now that all questions concerning ballot access this year have been resolved. Reproductive rights activists hope to build on an unbroken string of successes at the ballot box in the two years since the Supreme Court's conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade.
Below, we catalog each state where voters will have the chance to weigh in on amendments that would enshrine abortion rights into their state constitutions, including how each proposal would affect existing laws governing abortion access. Where available, we also take note of any recent polling.
In each state, these amendments need a simple majority to pass except in Colorado, where 55% support is required, and Florida, where 60% is necessary. All of these measures were placed on the ballot through citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives except in Maryland and New York, where lawmakers voted to put them on the ballot.
ARIZONA
Proposition 139, Right to Abortion Initiative
Arizona activists qualified an abortion rights amendment in August following a battle over the state’s near-total abortion ban that made national headlines. In April, Arizona's conservative Supreme Court upheld a Civil War-era law barring the procedure in virtually all cases, but the state's Republican-run legislature voted to repeal the ban in May in the face of massive pressure. Despite that repeal, a separate GOP-backed law still bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
By contrast, Proposition 139 would guarantee abortion access until fetal viability, the point at which a fetus is said to be capable of surviving outside the womb. While there's some disagreement among medical professionals as to when exactly that threshold is reached, it's generally regarded as taking place at 22 to 24 weeks into pregnancy. Abortion would be allowed after fetal viability to protect a patient's health.
But as they have in several other states, Republican lawmakers have tried to manipulate the outcome. In the guide sent to all voters, they described the measure with the misleading phrase "unborn human being" instead of "fetus," a move that was greenlit by the state Supreme Court.
Similar language put forth by Republicans in Ohio last year, however, failed to dissuade voters from approving an abortion rights amendment by double digits. A recent poll for Fox News showed the Arizona measure passing in a 73-23 landslide.
In addition, two conservative justices who voted to uphold Arizona's near-total abortion ban face retention elections in November. Fearful that they might lose, Republicans have placed another measure on the ballot that would retroactively eliminate almost all judicial elections.
COLORADO
Amendment 79, Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative
Abortion remains legal in Colorado, one of a handful of states that do not restrict how late the procedure may take place. However, reproductive rights supporters want stronger protections that could not be easily rolled back should Democrats ever find their control over state government threatened. Consequently, they're seeking to pass an amendment to guarantee abortion rights in the state constitution, which qualified in May.
They also have their sights on a 1984 amendment that prohibits the state from paying for abortions, which has limited access for poor women on Medicaid and for government employees who get their health insurance through a state-run program. In addition to securing abortion rights, the new amendment would also repeal that funding ban.
Colorado has emerged as a solidly blue state, but it's one of the few that requires a supermajority to pass constitutional amendments. The measure must therefore earn at least 55% of the vote to become law.
FLORIDA
Amendment 4, Right to Abortion Initiative
Organizers in Florida succeeded in placing an abortion-rights amendment on the ballot in April, but on the same day the state Supreme Court's conservative majority greenlit their measure, it also allowed a new six-week abortion ban passed by Republicans to take effect. That law has limited exceptions, some of which require onerous documentation, but there are no exceptions for rape or incest after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
If approved in November, Amendment 4 would guarantee abortion access until fetal viability and allow it later if medical professionals deem it necessary to protect a patient's health. The amendment must win 60% voter approval to become law, the highest threshold for citizen-initiated amendments in any state. Recent polling differs as to whether the amendment is just above or just below that mark.
Additionally, two of the conservative justices who upheld the new abortion ban face retention elections in November.
MARYLAND
Question 1, Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment
Maryland, like Colorado, does not place limits on abortion based on how far along a pregnancy is. Nonetheless, Maryland's Democratic-run legislature passed a constitutional amendment last year that would enshrine a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom" and tightly limit how the state could restrict access to abortion
The measure now goes before voters for their approval. It would solidify existing protections and expand the ability of Marylanders to sue to overturn any overly burdensome restrictions on access.
MISSOURI
Amendment 3, Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative
Activists in Missouri qualified an initiative in August that, if approved by voters, would amend Missouri's constitution and effectively overturn a law Republicans enacted that bans abortion except in cases of certain medical emergencies. Amendment 3 would guarantee abortion access until fetal viability as well as afterward when necessary to protect a patient's physical or mental health.
Republicans unsuccessfully made multiple attempts to thwart the measure, including drafting a misleading summary that the state courts rejected as "replete with politically partisan language." The GOP also sought to place its own amendments on the ballot that would have made it much harder to pass the abortion amendment by requiring it to win supermajority support.
However, those efforts fell apart due to Republican infighting, meaning Amendment 3 needs only a simple majority to pass. A new poll from St. Louis University found the amendment ahead by a 52-34 margin.
MONTANA
Constitutional Initiative 128, Right to Abortion Initiative
Montana is the rare red state that serves as an "abortion oasis" amidst a desert of states that sharply restrict access, and reproductive rights advocates want to keep it that way. Their amendment, Constitutional Initiative 128, qualified for the ballot in August and would broadly guarantee abortion access until fetal viability. It would also protect it after that point if a healthcare provider deems it necessary to protect a patient's life or health.
The right to an abortion in Montana is already protected thanks to a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling that rested on the state constitution's forceful guarantee of the right to privacy. While the court has continued to uphold that precedent, Republicans have long sought to undermine it, and they have a chance to further their aims this year.
That's because two liberal justices are not seeking reelection this fall, giving conservatives a strong chance to flip their seats and pave the way for an erosion of abortion rights. To guard against that scenario, CI-128 would explicitly enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
NEBRASKA
Initiative 439, Right to Abortion Initiative and Initiative 434, Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester Amendment
Separate groups have qualified opposing ballot initiatives to amend Nebraska's constitution: One would restore and protect the right to an abortion while the other would enshrine the state's existing 12-week ban and open the door to even tighter restrictions.
The Right to Abortion Initiative would allow abortions to take place until fetal viability and afterward if needed to protect a pregnant patient's life or health. Its opposite number, by contrast, would write the ban passed by Republican lawmakers last year into the state constitution while still allowing them to approve even harsher curbs. Following the passage of that ban, Gov. Jim Pillen previewed his intention to go much further, declaring that "we're going to end abortion."
Strange as it might seem, it's possible that both amendments could pass. A new poll from Split Ticket conducted by SurveyUSA finds both leading, with the anti-abortion abortion measure up 56-29 and the pro-abortion one ahead by a smaller 45-35 margin. If the amendments both win a majority, the state constitution says that the one with the most "yes" votes "shall thereby become law as to all conflicting provisions."
To pass in Nebraska, a ballot measure needs both a simple majority of votes on the issue itself and votes from at least 35% of voters in the election overall. However, given the issue’s salience, it's very unlikely that such a large proportion of voters would cast ballots for other races but undervote the abortion measures.
NEVADA
Question 6, Right to Abortion Initiative
Nevada activists successfully placed an abortion-rights amendment on the ballot in June that would provide a fundamental right to abortion access until fetal viability and when necessary to protect a patient's life or health after that point.
Abortion is already legal in Nevada until 24 weeks into pregnancy, but advocates want to amend the constitution to further safeguard these protections in this perennial swing state. Unlike all other abortion measures on the ballot this year, Nevada's would have to pass twice to take effect. If a majority votes in favor this year, it would appear on the ballot again in 2026. It would then need to win majority support a second time to become law.
A recent poll for Fox showed the amendment passing in a 75-21 landslide.
NEW YORK
Proposal 1, Equal Protection of Law Amendment
New York's Democratic-run state legislature passed what proponents dubbed the Equal Rights Amendment in both 2022 and 2023, sending it to voters this November. (Under New York law, legislators must pass any constitutional amendments twice before they can appear on the ballot.)
Abortion is already legal through fetal viability, but proponents argue that their amendment would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, safeguarding it in the future.
However, state constitutional law expert Quinn Yeargain has noted that its abortion-related language is much less specific than related measures in other states this year. Instead, it more broadly bans discrimination based on numerous related categories such as "sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy."
SOUTH DAKOTA
Amendment G, Right to Abortion Initiative
Supporters qualified a constitutional amendment in May that would partially overturn a Republican-backed law that bans abortion for any reason other than to save a patient's life. However, some major national groups that support abortion rights, such as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, are not backing the amendment because they view it as too restrictive.
If approved in November, the measure would guarantee abortion access only during the first trimester of pregnancy, which is roughly the first 12 to 13 weeks. During the second trimester, the state could regulate abortion "only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman." It would allow the state to ban abortion during the third trimester except in cases where "a woman's physician" deems it necessary "to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman."
A mid-May poll for the University of South Dakota found the amendment ahead 53-35, but we haven't seen any more recent data.Â
I am glad to see folks in red states as well as blue states get a vote on this issue. Republicans have put too many women in dangerous situations. However unless we pass expanded voter access in blue states as well as red states, such as universal vote by mail and combine the local elections with the even year elections, extremists will always have the opportunity to restrict reproductive health care for poor women. "The only cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy"
The Harris campaign and the DNC plan to transfer $25 million to support down-ballot Democratic candidates. The sum includes $10 million each to the DCCC and DSCC, $2.5 million to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and $1 million each to the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic Attorneys General Association. In the past six weeks, the Harris campaign has raised $540 million. https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/03/harris-25-million-transfer/
I am delighted to hear this. It indicates that the Harris campaign is confident that it has (or will have) all of the funds it needs and that it sees the election (and governing) as a team effort.
The linked article also states that the Harris campaign now has "more than 2,000 staff and 312 offices in the battleground states in partnership with the" DNC.