Abortion will appear on 10 state ballots this November. Here's our guide to the reproductive rights measures.
Abortion has emerged as a key hot-button issue in the 2024 election — the first presidential election since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established a federal right to abortion with its 2022 Dobbs ruling.
Former President Donald Trump has boasted on the campaign trail that he was able to “kill Roe v. Wade” by appointing the justices that gave the court its current 6-3 conservative majority.
Vice President Kamala Harris says she would fight for safe, legal access to abortion if elected.
Over the past two years, abortion rights advocates have fiercely fought to reestablish reproductive freedom at the state level, either through legislation or citizen-led initiatives. So far, every one of those initiatives has prevailed for abortion rights advocates, even in red states like Kentucky and Kansas, where measures seeking to hinder abortion access have failed.
Come Nov. 5, abortion rights advocates are hoping to channel that momentum into support for even more ballot initiatives, which have proved to be a powerful guardrail against abortion bans.
Here’s where abortion will be on the ballot this election:
Arizona: Right to Abortion Initiative
What citizen-led Proposition 139 would do: Establish the fundamental right to abortion so that the state of Arizona can’t deny, restrict or interfere with an abortion before fetal viability (around 24 to 26 weeks).
Current abortion limit: Banned after 15 weeks.
Needed to pass: More than 50% of the vote.
Colorado: Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative
What citizen-led Amendment 79 would do: Enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution and allow the use of public funds for abortion.
Current abortion limit: No gestational limit; state Medicaid coverage of abortion care is banned except in very limited circumstances.
Needed to pass: Supermajority vote of 55%.
Florida: Right to Abortion Initiative
What citizen-led Amendment 4 would do: Enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and the procedure would remain legal until the fetus is considered viable by the patient’s health care provider.
Current abortion limit: Banned after six weeks.
Needed to pass: Supermajority vote of 60%.
Read more from the Associated Press: Florida law enforcers are investigating the state’s abortion ballot initiative. Here’s what to know
Maryland: Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment
What Senate Bill 798 would do: Question 1 will ask voters whether they support reproductive freedom rights to be enshrined in the state’s constitution to say that every person has the fundamental right, “including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”
Current abortion limit: No gestational limit.
Needed to pass: More than 50% of the vote.
Missouri: Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative
What citizen-led Amendment 3 would do: Amend the state’s constitution to protect a person’s right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make decisions about all reproductive health care matters. The amendment would allow the state legislature to enact laws that regulate abortion after fetal viability.
Current abortion limit: Total abortion ban with few exceptions.
Needed to pass: More than 50% of the vote.
Read more from the Independent: How a ballot initiative in Missouri is setting up another red-state test for abortion rights
Montana: Right to Abortion Initiative
What citizen-led Amendment CI-128 would do: Montana’s constitution would be amended to provide a state constitutional right for a person to make choices about their own pregnancy, including the right to abortion until fetal viability.
Current abortion limit: The procedure is legal until fetal viability.
Needed to pass: Greater than 50% of the vote.
Nebraska: competing initiatives
What the amendments would do: There are two competing citizen-led initiatives on the ballot. Nebraska Initiative 439 proposes to establish a state constitutional right to abortion before viability. Nebraska Initiative 434 would amend the state constitution to ban abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions for a medical emergency, rape or incest.
Current abortion limit: Banned after 12 weeks.
Needed to pass: If both amendments receive more than 50% of the vote, the amendment that has the greater number of yes votes wins.
Read more from MSNBC: Nebraska Supreme Court green-lights competing pro- and anti-abortion ballot measures
Nevada: Right to Abortion Initiative
What the citizen-led amendment would do: Question 6 will ask voters whether they want to establish a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability in the state constitution, at which point the state can regulate abortion, except to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
Current abortion limit: Banned after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Needed to pass: More than 50% of the vote. If it passes, it has to also appear on the ballot in the 2026 election before the amendment is added to the state constitution.
Read more from the Associated Press: Nevada is joining the list of states using Medicaid to pay for more abortions
New York: Equal Protection of Law Amendment
What the legislator-led amendment would do: Proposal 1 asks voters whether they want to enshrine abortion rights in New York’s state constitution by banning any kind of discrimination based on “ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability,” as well as “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
Current abortion limit: The procedure is legal until viability.
Needed to pass: More than 50% of the vote.
South Dakota: Right to Abortion Initiative
What citizen-led Amendment G would do: Enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, while also setting a framework for trimester regulations.
Current abortion limit: Banned with limited exceptions.
Needed to pass: More than 50% of the vote.
