Amid devastating news in the election, there are some bright spots. Of the 10 states with abortion ballot questions, seven passed constitutional protections for reproductive rights, including Arizona (63-37), Colorado (61-39), Maryland (74-26), Missouri (53-47), Montana (59-41), Nevada (63-37) and New York (72-28). For the constitutional amendment to take effect in Nevada, voters would have to approve it again in November 2026.
All of these ballot measures amend the states’ constitutions to prohibit laws or policies restricting abortion before fetal viability, around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Previously, Arizona banned abortion at 15 weeks, Missouri banned all abortions and Montana had a total ban blocked by the Supreme Court in that state. Colorado, Maryland, Nevada and New York had statutes protecting abortion rights, but now have reproductive rights embedded in their constitutions.
The successful measures significantly expand access to abortion. Colorado’s Right to Abortion Initiative not only provides a constitutional right to abortion in the state Constitution, but also allows the use of public funds for abortion.
The Missouri amendment protects a broad range of reproductive rights, including “the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.”
Maryland’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment amends the Maryland Constitution to establish a right to reproductive freedom, defined to include “decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.” The Arizona measures protects “autonomous decision making” while the New York amendment protects “reproductive autonomy.”
Three states defeated abortion rights measures: South Dakota (39-61), Florida (57-43), which required 60 percent to pass, and Nebraska (49-51).
Voters were tasked to consider two abortion-related ballot measures; the other, a prohibiting abortion after the first trimester, passed.
Rather than trying to convince voters on the merits of the issue, abortion opponents spread disinformation and engaged in intimidation to defeat these amendments. In Florida, according to Yes on 4, the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration:
- sent a cease and desist letter to media outlets to silence a woman with terminal brain cancer from sharing her story;
- spent over $20 million in taxpayer dollars on anti-democracy public service announcements;
- weaponized the Department of Health by threating to revoke doctor’s licenses for saying that Florida’s abortion law provides no real exceptions for rape or the health of the woman;
- dispatched elections police officers to private residences in an effort to intimidate petition signers; and
- convened a biased Financial Impact Estimating Conference filled with D.C. lobbyists, leading to an accompanying Financial Impact Statement so speculative that even the state economist refused to sign off.
“Despite relentless government sabotage, the state’s promotion of disinformation and anti-democratic attacks, the majority of Floridians still voted for Amendment 4,” said Yes on 4 campaign director Lauren Brenzel, who pledged to continue the fight to legalize abortion in Florida. “The people have spoken and have sent a clear mandate to the legislature: Repeal Florida’s extreme ban. Today’s results are evidence of the strong support for abortion access in Florida and only fuels our resolve to keep fighting government interference.”
Voters in Amarillo, Texas, defeated a local ballot measure (41-59) that would have designated Amarillo as a “sanctuary city for the unborn” and enact local regulations and restrictions on abortion.
New York Equal Rights Amendment
More than seven out of every 10 voters in New York supported the state’s new Equal Rights Amendment that adds language to the New York Bill of Rights guaranteeing sex equality as well as providing that people cannot be denied rights based on “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” New York is first state to explicitly protect reproductive rights in an ERA.
In addition to protecting reproductive rights, the bill defines sex to include “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression,” which would make New York the second state to explicitly protect LGBTQIA+ people in their ERA, after Nevada did so in November 2022.
The New York Constitution already prohibits discrimination based on a person’s race, color, creed or religion. The amendment would prohibit “any characteristic listed in this section [to] be interpreted to interfere with, limit or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section,” which could potentially protect women and LGBTQIA+ people from religious discrimination claims against their rights.
The ERA covers discrimination by “any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state,” but it allows affirmative action to “prevent or dismantle discrimination.”
The New York ERA also ads prohibitions against discrimination on account of a person’s ethnicity, national origin, age and disability.
New York is now the 28th state to have an ERA protecting women’s rights.
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