Originally Published: 28 APR 24 07:00 ET
Updated: 01 MAY 24 10:59 ET
By Annette Choi and Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN
(CNN) — This November, many voters across the country could take to the polls to determine the future of abortion access in their state, with organizers working to secure a wave of measures on the 2024 ballot aimed at restoring or protecting the right to an abortion – and a few aimed at restricting it.
Abortion rights advocates hope the effort will restore the issue of reproductive health access to the people, after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, eliminating the national right to an abortion.
Most of the proposed ballot measures aim to enshrine the right to an abortion in state constitutions. They follow a series of restrictive trigger laws that went into effect following the Dobbs decision, along with abortion policies that were handed down by politicians or decided by state supreme courts since the decision. Some are up against a handful of counter measures aimed at restricting abortion access, though similar restrictive measures have failed in the few states where votes have been held in the past couple of years.
Abortion measures on the ballot in November
Three states, Florida, Maryland and New York, have already secured abortion measures on the 2024 ballot. All eyes are on Florida, which has served as a critical access point for people seeking services in a region of the country that is fast becoming an abortion care desert. A six-week abortion ban replaced the state’s 15-week ban on May 1.
States with potential abortion ballot measures
Organizers in other states across the country are working to secure funding, gather signatures and jump through the legal hoops necessary to secure abortion measures on the 2024 ballot.
In most states, the process entails collecting a certain number of signatures by a designated deadline this summer, while others require the additional step of having the ballot language approved by a state court, according to campaign organizers.The abortion rights measures are largely backed by coalitions of reproductive health advocates, many of which are fundraising to secure the money to support the campaigns.
Arizona, Nevada and Montana have all seen proposed measures protecting abortion access up to the point of viability, which doctors say is around 24 weeks into pregnancy. A potential measure in Arkansas would allow abortion up to 20 weeks into pregnancy or in cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies, while one in South Dakota would eliminate restrictions on abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy, with further restrictions in the second. It would also allow the state to “regulate or prohibit” abortion in the third trimester.
A potential measure in Missouri seeks to broadly protect reproductive care, while a separate proposed measure would seek to enshrine the state’s near-total abortion ban into the constitution.
A number of potential measures, like those in Nevada and Montana, allow for abortion past the point of viability when deemed necessary by a doctor to protect a pregnant person’s life or health – though doctors and lawmakers have struggled to define exactly what type of medical emergencies would be allowed under the exception.
Proposed measures to restrict abortion access in Iowa and Pennsylvania both seek to establish that public funding can’t be used for the procedure, though both are unlikely to pass their state legislatures.
Voters in at least two states could see dueling measures aimed at protecting and restricting abortion access on the 2024 ballot.
States that have voted on abortion post-Dobbs
Seven states have already seen a vote on abortion access since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and reproductive health advocates have been heartened by the overwhelming support for abortion access among voters. Every measure aimed at protecting abortion access has passed, while all measures to restrict it have failed.
While support for abortion access is considered a given in states like California, organizers say these votes offer an important layer of legal protection for patients and providers – and send a message to elected officials about what voters want.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
3 states will have abortion on the ballot in November
Proposals in Florida, Maryland and New York would establish protections for reproductive health care. Currently, no states have approved ballot measures to restrict abortion access.
Annette Choi and Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN via CNN Newsource
28 Apr 24
10 states are considering adding measures to the November ballot
Proposed ballot measures in several states could restrict abortion access or expand access. And some states have dueling measures with opposite goals.
Annette Choi and Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN via CNN Newsource
28 Apr 24
7 states have voted on abortion ballot measures post-Dobbs
In the past two years, all ballot measures aimed at restricting abortion access have failed and those attempting to expand access have passed.
Annette Choi, CNN via CNN Newsource
28 Apr 24
