The future of reproductive justice in the United States has been reshaped, thanks to the results of the 2024 election.
More than two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and triggered a nationwide battle to protect a person’s right to terminate a pregnancy, abortion rights appeared on the ballot in 10 different states. Seven of those measures saw victory, with voters in Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada approving amendments that enshrined abortion into their state constitutions. Measures in Florida and South Dakota failed to pass.
Ahead, we break down everything to know about each state’s ballot measures.
Arizona
Voters in Arizona overwhelmingly passed Proposition 139, which proposed to amend the state’s Constitution to include the fundamental right to abortion. The measure passed with nearly 62 percent of the vote, per the Associated Press.
Before the election, Arizona allowed abortion up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, and the law did not include exceptions for rape or incest. In April, the Arizona Supreme Court also ruled that an 1864 law, established prior to Arizona’s statehood, which imposed a near-total ban on abortions is enforceable. The decision ultimately galvanized the state’s pro-choice movement.
Now, Proposition 139—also known as the Arizona Abortion Access Act—creates the constitutional right to abortion and forbids the government from interfering with a person’s decision to have an abortion prior to a fetus’ viability. Fetal viability, or the chance of a fetus’ survival outside of the womb, typically occurs around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Roe v. Wade had similarly ruled that the government could not prevent abortions before the point of fetal viability.
Colorado
Nearly 62 percent of voters in Colorado approved Amendment 79, which will preserve Coloradans’ constitutional right to abortion, according to the AP.
Colorado is one of a few states that imposes no restrictions on the timeframe for a pregnant person to receive an abortion. The passage of the amendment will now enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, as well as lifting a ban that prevented the use of public government funding for the procedure. The latter means that Colorado will now be able to provide abortions under Medicaid and in their state employees’ health plans.
Florida
While a majority of Floridians voted in favor of Amendment 4—with 57 percent of voters approving the measure, according to the AP—the proposal failed to meet the required 60 percent of voter approval.
People in Florida cannot receive an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy due to a law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis last year. The amendment would have enshrined the right to abortion in the state’s constitution up until the point of fetal viability, which is typically at 24 weeks of pregnancy.
New York
Proposal 1, also known as the Equal Rights Act, passed in New York with about 62 percent of the vote, according to the AP.
In addition to enshrining the right to abortion in the state’s constitution, Prop 1 also protects against discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy outcomes.
New York is already largely considered a safe haven for abortion access in the U.S., with the state having legalized abortion in 1970—three years before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Now, Prop 1 goes a step further by essentially prohibiting any legal obstacles to abortion access that may arise in the future.
Maryland
Voters in Maryland passed ballot Question 1, which will instate constitutional protections to a person’s “ability to make an effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end the individual’s pregnancy.” The amendment also includes broad protections for reproductive freedom, safeguarding access to birth control. Nearly three-fourths of voters approved of the initiative.
Maryland voters already legalized abortion in a 1992 referendum. The passage of ballot Question 1, however, further protects the right to abortion by making it unconstitutional for future laws to limit access to reproductive health care.
Missouri
In a state with one of the country’s most-restrictive abortion laws on the books, a majority of Missouri voters heralded the passage of Amendment 3, which establishes the constitutional right to abortion and birth control. The triumph is a stunning blow to the state’s previous legislation on abortion, which banned the procedure nearly entirely except in the case of medical emergencies.
After the fall Roe v. Wade, Missouri was the very first state to ban abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The amendment—which captured nearly 52 percent of Missourians’ votes—not only lifts the ban on abortion, but stipulates that an individual’s right to obtain the procedure is now protected up until the point of fetal viability.
Montana
About 58 percent of voters in Montana approved Initiative 128, according to the AP.
The measure enshrines the right to abortion up until the point of a fetus’ viability in Montana’s constitution. While the state already allows abortions within the same timeframe, the initiative will safeguard against potential legal threats to abortion access in the future.
Nevada
Per the AP, about 63 percent of Nevadans voted yes on Question 6, which proposed to establish the constitutional right to abortion up until fetal viability. However, the proposal will have to be approved by voters again in the 2026 election in order to go into effect.
Abortion is already largely protected in the state, with voters having cleared the way for the legalization of abortion up to 24 weeks and in the case of medical emergencies back in a 1990 referendum. If Question 6 passes again two years from now, it will instate a constitutional protection to abortion access that will preserve an individual’s right to the procedure against future legal threats.
South Dakota
Nearly 60 percent of voters in South Dakota voted against Amendment G, which would have allowed a pregnant individual to obtain an abortion in all cases during their first trimester, granted the state authority to regulate the procedure in the second trimester, and permit physicians to provide an abortion for a medically at-risk pregnancy in the third trimester.
The state imposed a near-total ban on abortion following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Currently, South Dakota prohibits nearly all cases of abortion—even in cases of rape or incest—except when a pregnant person’s life is at stake.
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