Elections 2024: In which states will abortion be on the ballot?

Election officials in Arizona and Missouri announced this week that abortion rights supporters in their states had gathered enough petition signatures to include proposed amendments enshrining abortion rights in their state constitutions, bringing to seven the number of states with abortion votes scheduled for November.

The Supreme Court of the United States Eliminated the right to abortion throughout the country. with a 2022 ruling, which triggered a national push to have voters decide.

Since the decision was made, most Republican-controlled states have passed abortion restrictions, including 14 that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Most Democratic-controlled states have laws or executive orders to protect access.

Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions before voters since 2022 — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters.

What’s on the 2024 ballot?

MISSOURI

Missouri voters will decide whether to guarantee abortion rights with a constitutional amendment that would overturn the state’s near-total ban.

The secretary of state’s office certified Tuesday that an initiative petition received more than enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the general election. It will need approval from a majority of voters to be enshrined in the state constitution.

He Missouri Referendum Initiative The proposal would create a right to abortion until the fetus can likely survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures, which is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy. The ballot measure would allow abortions after fetal viability if a health care professional determines it is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.

ARIZONA

Arizona voters will decide in November whether to amend the state constitution to add the right to abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Arizona secretary of state’s office said Monday it had certified enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

Under the proposed amendment, the state would not be able to ban abortion until a fetus is viable, and later abortions would be allowed to protect a woman’s physical or mental health. Opponents of the proposed amendment say it goes too far and could lead to unlimited, unregulated abortions in Arizona. Supporters say it would protect access to abortion free from political interference.

Currently, abortion is legal during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona.

COLORADO

Colorado’s top election official confirmed in May that a measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, along with requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover abortion, was included on the ballot for the fall election.

Supporters said they gathered nearly twice the number of signatures needed.

To amend the state constitution, the support of 55% of voters is required.

Abortion is now legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado.

FLORIDA

In April, the state Supreme Court ruled that a measure to legalize abortion up to viability could be brought to a vote despite a legal challenge by the state. Attorney General Ashley Moody had argued that there are differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not adequately defined.

To pass, the measure needs support from at least 60 percent of voters, a high threshold that supporters say they are hopeful of reaching after collecting nearly a million signatures on a petition to put it on the ballot.

Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy. under a law which came into force on May 1.

MARYLAND

Maryland Voters There will also be calls this year to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. Abortion is already permitted in Maryland up to viability.

SNOWFALL

He Nevada Secretary of State Office announced in June that a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution had met all requirements to go before voters in November.

Under the amendment, access to abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy (or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman) would be protected. To change the constitution, voters would have to approve it in either 2024 or 2026.

Abortion until viability is already permitted in the state under a law passed in 1990.

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota Voters Decide this fall Constitutional amendment that would ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. The measure would allow the state to “regulate a pregnant woman’s decision to abort and its performance only in ways that are reasonably related to the pregnant woman’s physical health” in the second trimester. A ban on abortion in the third trimester would be allowed, as long as it included exceptions for the woman’s life and health.

Opponents have filed lawsuits to try to get the initiative out of the vote.

What’s on the ballot in New York?

While the right to abortion is not explicitly preserved, a reproductive rights issue is on the ballot in New York. The measure bar discrimination Based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” in addition to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and disability, abortion is currently permitted in New York up to fetal viability.

The question was on the ballot, but was later removed in May by a judge who found Lawmakers skipped a procedural step When they put it there. A The appeals court reinstated it in June.

Where else could abortion be on the ballot in 2024?

MOUNTAIN

Abortion rights advocates in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the government from denying the right to abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.

After a legal battle over ballot language, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the language that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures are certified. Sponsors were required to submit about 60,000 signatures by June 21. They turned in nearly double that number — about 117,000 — and sponsors have said counties have validated more than enough signatures. The secretary of state has until Aug. 22 to finalize the November ballot.

Abortion is already legal up to viability in the state under a 1999 Montana Supreme Court opinion.

NEBRASKA

Measures against abortion He could go before voters in November after supporters of each said this month they had turned in far more signatures than the 123,000 required to qualify for the ballot.

The right to abortion until the fetus is viable is to be enshrined in the state constitution. Supporters claim to have submitted more than 207,000 signatures.

The other would include the current law in the constitution, which prohibits abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with a few exceptions. Its promoters claimed to have submitted more than 205,000 signatures.

The measure that gets the most votes will become part of the state constitution.