The groups pushing ballot measures to add abortion rights to nine states’ constitutions have raised more than $160 million.
That’s nearly six times what her opponents have brought in, The Associated Press found in an analysis of campaign finance data compiled by the watchdog group Open Secrets and state governments.
Campaign spending reports are a snapshot in time, especially this delayed in the campaign when donations are coming in for many.
The cash advantage is evident in advertising spending, where data from media tracking firm AdImpact shows campaigns spent more than three times as much as rivals on advertising on television, streaming services, radio and websites.
Abortion rights advocates have prevailed on all seven ballot measures put before voters since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Roe v in most Republican-controlled states in 2022.
(*6*)Most of the money goes to Florida
Florida is the giant in this year’s abortion ballot campaigns.
Supporters of the measure have raised more than $75 million and opponents have raised $10 million. Combined, that’s almost half the national total.
The state Republican Party is using additional resources, including from businesses across the country, to urge voters to reject the measure. Taking that into account, backers still lead the way in ad buys: $60 million to $27 million.
The total spent Tuesday is roughly equal to the amount spent on the state’s U.S. Senate election.
The change would repeal a ban on most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy — when women often don’t know they are pregnant — that was signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and took effect in May. The DeSantis administration has taken steps to thwart the campaign for the amendment.
Florida’s ballot measure rules give opponents a boost: Passage requires approval from 60% of voters rather than a elementary majority.
(*6*)An influx of money is arriving in South Dakota
South Dakota is a special case and offers a significant funding advantage for anti-abortion groups.
They have raised about $2 million, compared with $1 million for abortion rights advocates, according to an Associated Press analysis of state campaign disclosures.
There was a large change last week when the abortion rights group Dakotans for Health reported that it had received $540,000 from Think Big America, a fund created by Democratic Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker. The fund’s director, Mike Ollen, said this helps ads be seen more broadly in what could be a tight race.
Previously, national abortion rights groups, including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, had largely ignored South Dakota because they said the ballot measure didn’t go far enough. It would allow regulations for abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if they affect the woman’s health.
(*1*) said Rick Weiland, co-founder of Dakotans for Health. “We think we’re right in the middle.”
The anti-abortion campaign in South Dakota, as elsewhere, has focused largely on portraying the change as too extreme. Think Big money offered a recent opportunity to do this.
“South Dakotans do not want extreme views from Chicago, San Francisco and New York to impact our great state,” Life Defense Fund spokeswoman Caroline Woods said in a statement.
An anti-abortion group reported a $25,000 donation from Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s political action committee last week.
(*6*)Even in a state with competing ballot measures, funding is nearly sufficient
There are competing ballot measures in Nebraska.
Abortion would be allowed until it was viable, i.e. after about 20 weeks. The other would ban abortions in most cases after the first 12 weeks – which is in line with current state law but also allows for stricter regulation.
The site advocating for maintaining the restrictions is leading the fundraising race with at least $9.8 million. More than half of them come from a prominent family. Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts has donated more than $1 million, and his mother, Marlene Ricketts, contributed $4 million.
The campaign for greater access has raised at least $6.4 million.
(*6*)In some states the opposition remained hushed
In most places, abortion rights advocates have a large lead in fundraising.
In Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Nevada, opponents have each raised less than $2 million.
Meanwhile, the groups promoting the issues in those states have all raised at least $5 million.
The voting questions have different circumstances.
Missouri’s amendment would open the possibility of blocking the state’s current ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Supporters of the measure have raised more than $30 million, while opponents received $1.5 million.
In Arizona, passage of the abortion amendment would roll back a ban after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and instead allow it until fetal viability and, in some cases, later. The state Supreme Court ruled this year that an 1864 ban on abortion could be enforced at all stages of pregnancy, but lawmakers quickly overturned it.
Colorado is one of the few states that already has no pregnancy restrictions on when during pregnancy an abortion can be performed. Montana allows abortion until viability.
Opponents of Nevada’s measure have reported no spending. To take effect, the change must be passed this year and again in 2026.
Fundraising has been low on both sides in Maryland, although Pritzker’s fund says it is sending money there, and in New York, where a ballot measure does not specifically mention abortion but would ban discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes as well as reproductive health care and autonomy.”
(*6*)Large contributions from national groups are one-sided
Liberal groups, including those not required to report their donors, are far more busy in the campaigns than their anti-abortion counterparts.
The Fairness Project, which promotes progressive ballot measures, has pledged $30 million to this year’s abortion changes. To date, $10 million in donations have been reported in campaign finance reports.
Several other abortion rights groups have donated $5 million or more. Not a single organization on the anti-abortion site has reported donating that much.
Groups that funded most of last year’s campaign against a voter-approved abortion law change in Ohio are missing from this year’s list of major donors.
The Concord Fund, part of a network of political groups centered around conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, did not appear at all in financial reports this year. Leo was a driving force in the appointment of Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has not actively supported abortion ballot measures this year, but is pumping money into the presidential campaign in support of Republican Donald Trump.
“This is the most consequential fight for life before us,” SBA spokesman Kelsey Pritchard said in a statement, noting that the group plans to spend $92 million in eight states during the presidential campaign.
