Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states. Here’s where the measures stand

Voters in 10 states will decide this November whether to adopt constitutional amendments that could shape the future of abortion access in their states.   

Most of the measures seek to protect abortion access until fetal viability, or the point at which a fetus could survive outside of the uterus, which typically comes around 24 weeks into pregnancy.     

In Nebraska, however, voters will weigh in on not one but two proposed amendments. One, like those on the ballot in the other nine states, would protect abortion access. The other would ban it.    

Since the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, at least 22 states have banned or restricted abortion before fetal viability, while the procedure has remained broadly legal up to that point in the rest of the U.S., according to health policy group KFF.   

Voters have so far approved all of the measures to protect abortion access that have appeared on state ballots since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and rejected every measure that would have restricted access. Polling indicates, however, that some of the proposed abortion rights amendments up for a vote this November may not prove as successful.   

If the ballot measures fail, abortion access will remain unchanged. But if all of the measures to expand access pass, total bans will be lifted in at least two states, as well as partial bans in three others. And if Nebraska’s anti-abortion amendment musters the needed votes, restrictions from the beginning of the second trimester will be enshrined in the state constitution.  

Here is a breakdown of where things stand in each state:     

Nebraska

Nebraska is the only state with two abortion-related measures on the ballot this November.   

One would amend the state constitution to recognize a right to abortion up to fetal viability, while the other would amend the constitution to ban abortion starting in the second trimester, or about 14 weeks into pregnancy.    

In order to succeed, each measure has to pass three bars: More than 50 percent of Nebraskans who vote on it must support it, at least 35 percent of the total ballots cast in the state must be in favor of it and it must receive a greater number of votes than the competing measure.   

Abortion has been banned in Nebraska after the first trimester since May 2023, meaning the proposed amendment to protect access would overturn those restrictions and the other would enshrine them in the state constitution.   

Voters will be asked to vote “for” or “against” each of the proposed amendments separately, which abortion advocates in the state say creates a “perfect storm” for voter confusion and last-minute rule changes.    

Advocates added that having dueling measures on the ballot is likely an intentional move by anti-abortion groups in the state, and one they fear will be replicated if the ballot measure banning abortion passes.    

“Nebraska is a live test run, and it’s frustrating that it feels like no one’s watching — it’s a crystal ball for the future for abortion access,” said Shelley Mann, executive director of Nebraska Abortion Resources.   

Meanwhile, Karen Bowling, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, wrote on the group’s website that the ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights — 439 — would “strip away” parental consent rights, legalize abortion until birth and endanger existing medical safeguards.   

It looks as if there is slightly more support for the ballot initiative to ban abortion than the one to protect it, according to one recent poll of 1,000 registered voters in Nebraska, though neither had the support of the majority of respondents. The measure to prohibit the procedure received 46 percent support, while the one to protect access received 44 percent. 

Florida

A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida this May, replacing the state’s previous 15-week ban that had been in place since roughly a month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.    

The current law does offer exceptions for survivors of rape, incest or human trafficking, who are legally allowed to have an abortion until 15 weeks into pregnancy. But in order to qualify for those exceptions, survivors are required to provide proof to abortion providers, like a copy of a restraining order or a police or medical record, before they undergo the procedure.    

In November, Florida voters will have a chance to change the state’s abortion laws by deciding if the right to an abortion until fetal viability should be added to the state’s constitution.  

The amendment needs 60 percent of the vote to pass, and recent polling shows it’s not on track to do so.    

Arizona

Following multiple shifts in abortion policy this year at the hands of judges and lawmakers, Arizonans will get to decide whether to add the right to an abortion to their state constitution in November.  

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in April that a near-total abortion ban passed in 1864, before Arizona was a state, was enforceable. Five months later, state lawmakers passed a bill repealing the ruling.    

Now, abortion is legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks of gestation. If the ballot measure succeeds, abortion would become legal until fetal viability, or around 24 weeks of gestation.    

For the measure to pass, it has to receive more than 50 percent of the vote. It appears that the overwhelming majority of Arizonans — 73 percent — support protecting abortion rights at the state level, according to Fox News poll findings released in August.   

Missouri

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, a trigger law went into effect in Missouri banning all “non-medically necessary” abortions in the state.  

Abortion rights advocates began working to garner support for a ballot initiative that could enshrine abortion access in the state constitution shortly thereafter.   

They faced numerous hurdles to get the initiative, known as Amendment 3, on the November ballot — including a state judge ruling the proposed amendment was invalid in September, days before the deadline to print absentee ballots.    

The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately overturned that lower court ruling, however, greenlighting Amendment 3’s inclusion on ballots during the general election.     

Now, voters will get to choose if the proposed constitutional amendment should be adopted.  

Amendment 3 needs more than 50 percent of the vote to pass, and it appears poised to do so. Just more than half of Missourians support the abortion ballot initiative, according to an August Saint Louis University/YouGov poll, an 8-point increase from February.    

South Dakota

Abortion is nearly completely banned in South Dakota under a trigger law that went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned.  

A ballot measure called Amendment G would restore abortion access to the state by changing the state constitution to set a standard for when abortion can be regulated — and when it can’t.   

The measure seeks to prohibit the state from regulating abortion access during the first trimester and allow it to regulate the procedure during the second trimester only on grounds related to the pregnant person’s physical health.   

Under the amendment, the state would be able to regulate abortion during the third trimester unless the procedure is necessary to save the pregnant person’s life or health.    

The ballot initiative will need more than 50 percent of the vote in order to pass.   

It appears that more South Dakotans support the amendment than oppose it. In a statewide poll of registered voters earlier this year, 53 percent said they support Amendment G, while 35 percent said they oppose the measure and 11 percent said they were undecided.    

That marks a 7-point jump in support from last year.    

Colorado

Colorado is one of nine states, plus Washington, D.C., that does not currently have any limits governing which point during a pregnancy abortions can legally be performed.  

Voters will decide whether to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution this November via a ballot initiative called Amendment 79. The amendment would block future lawmakers from enacting any restrictions on abortion and repeal a ban on using state and local tax dollars to pay for abortions that Coloradans voted to add to the state constitution in 1984.   

Amendment 79 needs 55 percent of the vote to pass. There does not appear to be much polling data on public opinion on the measure.   

Maryland

Maryland is another one of the nine states where abortion is currently legal at any time during a pregnancy.    

Last year, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 798, a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine the right to “reproductive freedom” that advocates say would protect abortion access. The proposed amendment also prohibits the state from “directly or indirectly” denying or abridging that right “unless justified by a compelling state interest.”   

This year, voters will get to choose if the amendment should be adopted. It will need more than 50 percent of the vote to pass.    

Findings from a recent University of Maryland, Baltimore County Institute of Politics poll show that most Marylanders — 69 percent — say they will vote in favor of the ballot measure.  

Montana

Abortion is legal in Montana until the point of fetal viability at this time. Montanans will have a chance to vote on CI-128, a measure that would amend the state’s constitution to explicitly include the right to “make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.”   

The amendment would also prohibit the government from denying the right to an abortion before fetal viability and prevent lawmakers from denying an abortion when a health care provider deems it medically necessary to save the pregnant person’s life or health.    

There has been little polling on the ballot measure, which needs more than 50 percent of the vote to pass in November.    

Nevada

In 1990, Nevada voters made abortion legal up to 24 weeks into pregnancy. That law remains in place now.  

But reproductive rights advocates in the state, fearing that the current law could be undone in the future, worked to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to enshrine the right to an abortion until fetal viability.  

It looks as if the overwhelming majority of Nevada residents support protecting abortion rights. One Fox News poll conducted this summer found that 75 percent of Nevadans say they will vote “yes” on the ballot measure.   

Ballot measures in Nevada have to pass in two successive general elections to become law, however. The upcoming election will mark the first time the measure appears on the state’s ballot, so if it passes in November it will still have to do so again in the next general election before it can be added to the state constitution, according to KFF.    

New York 

Abortion is legal in New York until fetal viability, and health care providers are allowed to provide abortions after that point in cases in which the patient’s health or life is at risk or the fetus is deemed nonviable, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New York.   

But the state is one of a handful in which abortion rights advocates are seeking to codify the right to an abortion to make it harder for anti-abortion politicians to restrict access in the future.    

In November, New Yorkers will vote on Proposition 1, which aims to update the state’s Equal Rights Amendment to add new protected classes including “gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”  

Proposition 1 has come under fire from conservative lawmakers in the state, who say it “strips parents of their rights.”   

Some Democratic consultants, meanwhile, fear that their plans to enshrine further protections on abortion may backfire due to lawmakers’ unwillingness to spend money to combat a Republican campaign against the initiative.   

The measure needs more than 50 percent of the vote to be enacted. Most New Yorkers — 64 percent — appear to support the amendment, according to a recent Siena College poll.