With the announcement Friday in Nevada that voters will vote in November on a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, five states will have referendums on abortion issues this year. And there could be more to come.
In a 2022 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion, sparking a nationwide movement to let voters decide.
Since the ruling, most Republican-led states have novel 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 – California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont – voters have sided with abortion rights advocates.
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 twice the 124,000-plus signatures required.
To change the state constitution, the support of 55% of voters is required.
Supporters of a competing bill, an abortion ban, have not submitted signatures and the bill will not go to voters.
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 up until viability could go on the ballot, despite a lawsuit filed by the state’s Attorney General, Ashley Moody, who argued that there were differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed proposal were 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 bill to come into force, 60 percent of voters would have to approve it.
Under a law that went into effect on May 1, abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy.
MARYLAND
Maryland voters will also be asked this year to enshrine abortion rights in the state 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 Friday that a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has 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, in order to protect the health of the pregnant woman. 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 that would ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester. It would allow the state in the second trimester to “regulate the pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its execution only in a manner that is reasonably proportionate to the pregnant woman’s physical health.” An abortion ban would be permitted in the third trimester, as long as it provides exceptions to protect the woman’s life and health.
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 is up for election in New York?
Although the right to abortion is not explicitly protected, a reproductive rights question is on the ballot in New York. The measure would prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” as well as sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. Abortion is currently legal in New York until the fetus is viable.
The question was on the ballot but was removed in May by a judge who found that lawmakers had overlooked a procedural step in adding it. An appeals court reinstated it in June.
What other issues could be on the ballot in 2024 besides abortion?
ARIZONA
A petition is currently underway to establish a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona. The bill would allow the state to ban abortions only when the fetus is viable. Later abortions are permitted to protect the physical or mental health of the woman. Supporters must collect nearly 384,000 valid signatures by July 4.
In Arizona, abortion is currently legal in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. An Arizona Supreme Court ruling in April said enforcement of a near-total ban already in place could soon begin. 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 legislative amendment allowing abortion in many cases must collect nearly 91,000 signatures by July 5 for it to be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot. The measure would ban laws prohibiting abortion in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or when the fetus would likely not survive birth. Because the proposal would ban abortions beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy, it does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state currently bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
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 circumscribed 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 on the ballot, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the wording that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures were certified. Sponsors had to submit about 60,000 by June 21. They submitted nearly twice as many – about 17,000. Counties have until July 19 to certify them, and the secretary of state would have until Aug. 22 to decide whether the signature goes on the ballot.
Following a 1999 ruling by the Montana Supreme Court, abortion is legal in Montana until viability.
NEBRASKA
Supporters are trying to collect the roughly 125,000 signatures needed by July 5 to put a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights until the fetus is viable before voters. A competing petition would add a constitutional amendment that mirrors a law passed last year that bans abortions after 12 weeks with some exceptions.
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 did not receive the approval of a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, and a bill in Minnesota also failed to pass the legislature.
