Abortion Is Officially Protected in 7 More States Thanks to These Key Ballot Measures
The 2024 election gave voters in 10 states the opportunity to vote directly on abortion, and with the results now in, we can confirm that the majority of pro-abortion measures have passed. It’s a glimmer of good news in an election cycle that many saw as a referendum on reproductive rights — among many other issues — and that went decisively the way of Donald Trump, the former president who made possible the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Trump’s win represents a “deadly threat” to reproductive health and justice in the US, Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement provided to SheKnows. The first Trump administration brought down the federal right to abortion and kicked off a domino effect of states outlawing it, which led to OB/GYNs leaving those states out of fear of legal retribution and created maternal care deserts across “vast swaths of the South and Midwest,” Northup said. A second Trump administration will not only “compound these harms,” she continued, but add to them with policies like ending the availability of medication abortion by mail.
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That’s why it’s even more important for abortion to be protected at the state level, and passing ballot measures like the ones below is where it starts. Here’s what to know about abortion’s legal status in those states now.
Arizona
Abortion status: Now legal until fetal viability
Arizona’s near-total abortion ban has been overturned by the Arizona Abortion Access Act, which passed 61 percent to 38 percent. The ban, which went into effect in April, stated that doctors could be criminalized for providing or assisting in an abortion. With the passing of Prop 139, voters have agreed that every person has the right to get an abortion before fetal viability (aka the point when a fetus can survive outside the uterus), which is usually around 24 weeks.
Colorado
Abortion status: Legal, now protected under the state constitution
Abortion was already legal in Colorado, but voters have now passed Amendment 79 (61 percent to 38 percent) to add the right to the state constitution and ensure that using public funds for abortion is allowed. The amendment also overrides a decades-old measure that banned health insurance from covering abortions for “public employees and people on public insurance.”
Florida
Abortion status: Banned after six weeks with exceptions
Florida’s Amendment 4 sought to protect abortion under the state constitution, stating that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” While the majority of voters, 57 percent, voted to pass the amendment, Florida required it to reach a 60 percent supermajority to pass — the highest threshold in the country, per The Hill.
Maryland
Abortion status: Legal until fetal viability, now protected under the state constitution
Abortion was already legal in Maryland before fetal viability. Now, voters in the state have passed the Reproductive Freedom referendum, which guarantees reproductive freedom in the state constitution — including, the referendum notes, “the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.” The measure passed by a wide margin, with 74 percent of voters voting yes and just 25 percent voting no.
Missouri
Abortion status: Now legal until fetal viability
Missouri was one of the states with a “trigger law” set to ban abortion as soon as the Supreme Court allowed it in 2022. But Amendment 3, which voters in the state just passed, now protects the right to abortion until fetal viability under the state constitution. The amendment passed 51 percent to 48 percent.
Montana
Abortion status: Legal until fetal viability, now protected under the state constitution
In Montana, where abortion was already legal until fetal viability, voters have now approved an amendment to protect it under the state constitution. The constitution now includes the right to “make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.” Voters passed the amendment 57 percent to 42 percent.
Nebraska
Abortion status: Now banned in the state constitution after 12 weeks, with exceptions
In Nebraska, two opposing abortion proposals were on the ballot. The Nebraska Right to Abortion Initiative looked to protect the right to abortion until fetal viability under the state constitution; the Protect Women and Children Amendment looked to do the opposite, amending the state constitution to ban abortions after the second and third trimesters, with exceptions for medical emergencies, sexual assault, and incest.
The anti-abortion measure won, garnering 55 percent of the vote for and 44 percent against. (The pro-abortion measure was rejected, with 51 percent of voters casting “no” votes compared to 48 percent “yes.”)
Nevada
Abortion status: Legal until fetal viability or if the pregnancy may be fatal to the mother, now protected under the state constitution
Nevada’s Right to Abortion Initiative has passed, 63 percent to 36 percent. This will amend the state constitution to provide a right to abortion until fetal viability, or to protect the life or health of the mother.
New York
Abortion status: Legal until fetal viability or when the pregnancy or mother’s life is at risk, now protected under the state constitution
Abortion was already legal until fetal viability in New York. Now, the New York State Equal Rights Amendment has prohibited discrimination from the government based on pregnancy and reproductive healthcare. The amendment passed by 61 percent to 38 percent.
South Dakota
Abortion status: Banned with exceptions to save the life of the mother
South Dakota’s proposed amendment to allow the right to abortion before 12 weeks (and after, if the mother’s life is at risk) failed. Voters rejected the measure 59 percent to 40 percent.
Before you go, read about these celebrities who’ve shared their abortion stories:
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