LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — Organizers of an initiative to loosen Arkansas’s abortion ban said they have more than enough signatures to put their proposal before voters on the November ballot.
Arkansas Citizens for Limited Government submitted more than the required 90,704 signatures of registered voters in their petitions to qualify. Election officials must now begin verifying the validity of the signatures.
This brings to six the number of states where election officials are reviewing signatures on abortion bills. They are already on the ballot in five more states, and an amendment is being proposed in New York that would ban discrimination based on “pregnancy outcome.”
Supporters of other abortion measures in Arizona and Nebraska filed petitions in their respective states on Wednesday.
The fate of these measures could change or confirm trends that have emerged in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights.
Since the ruling, most Republican-led states have fresh abortion restrictions in place, including 14 that ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders protecting access to abortion.
In all seven states where abortion issues have been on the ballot since 2022, voters have sided with abortion rights advocates, including California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont.
Here’s a look at the abortion measures that could be on the ballot in November:
What will be on the ballot for 2024?
COLORADO
Colorado’s top election official confirmed in May that a bill to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, including requiring that they be covered by Medicaid and private health insurers, was on the ballot for this fall’s election.
Supporters said they had collected more than 225,000 signatures, nearly double the 124,000 signatures required to amend the state constitution, which requires the support of 55% of voters.
Supporters of a competing bill to ban abortion have not submitted signatures and the bill will not come to a vote.
In Colorado, abortion is legal at any stage of pregnancy.
FLORIDA
The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a ballot proposal to legalize abortion until the fetus is viable could go on the ballot, despite a lawsuit filed by the state’s Attorney General, Ashley Moody, arguing that there are differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed proposal are not properly defined.
Supporters collected nearly a million signatures to put an amendment to the state constitution to legalize abortion until it becomes feasible on the ballot, exceeding the nearly 892,000 signatures required.
For the measure to come into force, the approval of at least 60 percent of voters is required.
Under a law that took effect on May 1, abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
MARYLAND
Voters this year will also be asked to enshrine abortion rights in Maryland’s constitution. The state already protects abortion rights through state law, and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1. Abortion is legal in Maryland until it is feasible.
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 requirements to be put before voters in November.
The amendment aims to ensure access to abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy or even later if the health of the pregnant woman needs to be protected. This access is already guaranteed by a law from 1990.
To change the constitution, voters would have to approve it in both 2024 and 2026.
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota voters will vote this fall on a measure banning any restrictions on abortions in the first trimester. It would allow the state to regulate the pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its performance in the second trimester “only in a manner that is reasonably proportionate to the pregnant woman’s physical health.”
A ban on abortion would be permissible in the third trimester as long as it provided for exceptions to protect the life and health of the woman.
The state’s top election official announced on May 16 that about 85% of the more than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the ballot initiative were valid, more than the required 35,017 signatures.
Opponents have filed suit to try to remove the initiative from the ballot.
What other issues could be on the ballot in 2024 besides abortion?
ARIZONA
Abortion rights supporters submitted more than 823,000 signatures Wednesday to put an abortion freedom bill on the November ballot, twice the number needed.
Election officials still have to verify the signatures.
Under this measure, the state could prohibit abortion only when the fetus is viable, but later abortions would be allowed to protect the physical or mental health of the woman.
Currently, abortion is still legal in Arizona during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in April that the already existing, almost total ban could soon go into effect. The governor has since signed a bill repealing that law, but it is expected to remain in effect for some time.
ARKANSAS
Supporters of a bill that would allow abortion in many cases submitted more than 101,000 signatures – at least 10,000 more than the required number. The group also said it exceeded the state requirement that a minimum number of signatures must come from 50 counties.
Dozens of supporters and opponents of the Arkansas measure lined the hallways of the state Capitol as boxes of petitions were rolled into a room where officials will begin reviewing them.
The measure would ban laws that prohibit abortions in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, but would allow abortions later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or when there is a low probability that the fetus will survive birth.
Because the proposal would allow for a ban on abortion beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy, it is not supported by Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state currently bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
Abortion opponents in the predominantly Republican state also waged a massive campaign against the measure, and one group published the names and hometowns of poll workers who collected signatures in favor of the proposal.
Election officials have 30 days to verify the validity of the signatures. The group could be entitled to more time to circulate the petitions if at least 75% of the signatures are found to be valid statewide and in the 50 counties.
MISSOURI
Abortion rights advocates in Missouri submitted more than 380,000 signatures, more than twice the 171,000 required, for a measure asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion until it is feasible. Local election officials have until July 30 to verify the signatures, then it will be up to the secretary of state to declare whether there are enough signatures.
A group of moderate Republicans has abandoned efforts this year to pass an alternative constitutional amendment that would have allowed abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, with constrained exceptions after that.
In Missouri, abortion is currently prohibited at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
MONTANA
Abortion rights advocates in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the government from denying the right to an abortion before the pregnancy is viable or when it is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
After a legal battle over the wording of the ballot, the Montana Supreme Court in April drafted its version of the wording that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures were certified. Sponsors were required to submit about 60,000 signatures by June 21. They submitted about 117,000, nearly twice the number needed.
Counties have until July 19 to review the signatures, and the Secretary of State has until August 22 to decide whether to put the amendment on the ballot.
Following a 1999 ruling by the Montana Supreme Court, abortion is legal in Montana until viability.
NEBRASKA
Competing abortion laws could be on the ballot in November after supporters of both bills said Wednesday they had submitted far more signatures than the 123,000 needed to put them on the ballot.
One would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution until they are available. Supporters said they have submitted more than 207,000 signatures.
The other option would be to write the existing law, which prohibits abortion after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with some exceptions, into the constitution. Proponents say they have submitted more than 205,000 signatures.
The organizers of a third attempt did not submit any petitions. This would have defined embryos as human beings and thus banned abortions at all stages of pregnancy.
Where have the voting efforts not been successful?
Some attempts to restrict or ban abortion have also failed in the vote. In Wisconsin, the House of Representatives passed a bill asking voters to ban abortion after the 14th week of pregnancy. However, the legislative session ended without a vote in the Senate.
Likewise, Iowa lawmakers ended their session without passing a bill asking voters to determine that there is no constitutional right to abortion. Pennsylvania lawmakers had previously sought a similar amendment, but it is not expected to make it onto the ballot this year.
A bill in Louisiana that sought to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution failed in committee; another in Maine failed when it failed to receive two-thirds approval in the House of Representatives, and another in Minnesota failed to pass the legislature.
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This story has been updated to correct the headline and reflect that Arkansas has not yet officially joined the list of states that put abortion on the ballot. The signatures collected must first be validated.
