[Here’s an overview of where abortion will — and could be —
directly on the ballot in 2024, how many signatures organizers need to
collect and the challenges advocates are facing in the states. ]
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THE STATES WHERE ABORTION COULD BE ON THE BALLOT IN 2024  
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Grace Panetta
December 15, 2023
19th News
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_ Here’s an overview of where abortion will — and could be —
directly on the ballot in 2024, how many signatures organizers need to
collect and the challenges advocates are facing in the states. _

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Seven states have directly voted on abortion since the U.S. Supreme
Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 — and abortion rights
advocates are so far undefeated with ballot measures. 

The most recent win came in November when Ohio became the latest
state to vote to enshrine abortion rights
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its constitution. Two blue state legislatures put abortion rights
constitutional amendments on their 2024 ballots, while organizers in
at least nine other states so far are leading citizen-driven efforts
to put similar measures on the ballot. 

The proposed amendments have the potential to reshape abortion access
around the country and even mobilize voters
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Democrats in critical 2024 battleground states and races. Abortion
rights ballot measures outperformed Democrats on the ballot
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California, Michigan and Vermont in the 2022 midterms.  

Currently, 23 states enable citizens to put constitutional amendments
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the ballot, while others only allow a state legislature to put them
before the voters. While not all ballot measures are necessarily
constitutional amendments, most of the efforts in 2024 are behind
reshaping state constitutions to enshrine reproductive rights.

Passing a ballot measure is a highly expensive, time-consuming
endeavor. First, organizers must decide on language for their ballot
measure. Next, they must gather tens or hundreds of thousands of
signatures to put on the ballot, anticipating legal challenges to the
validity of their signatures or the ballot language itself. Successful
campaigns require lots of spending and intensive get-out-the-vote
efforts, especially in states that require a supermajority for the
measure to pass.  

Here’s an overview of where abortion will — and could be —
directly on the ballot in 2024 and the challenges advocates are facing
in the states. 

ARIZONA

Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of reproductive rights
groups, is collecting signatures to put a constitutional amendment
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the 2024 ballot
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would guarantee a right to abortion. The measure would protect
abortion rights up to the point of fetal viability, which is
determined by physicians but is usually around 22 to 25 weeks of
pregnancy. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is currently banned after 15 weeks of
pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest.
* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED TO MAKE THE BALLOT: 383,923
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: July 4
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Arizona is a swing state in the presidential
race; President Joe Biden won in 2020 by just over 10,000 votes.
Abortion is also likely to be a significant issue in Arizona’s
competitive U.S. Senate election
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ARKANSAS

Arkansans for Limited Government is aiming to reverse the state’s
strict abortion ban with a proposed constitutional amendment
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would establish a right to abortion through 18 weeks after conception
and after that in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly or threat
to the life of the patient. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is banned in Arkansas with no exceptions for
rape or incest. Voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1988
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the state’s position is to “protect the life of every unborn child
… to the extent permitted by the Federal Constitution.”
* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED: 90,704
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: July 5
* CHALLENGES: Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected the
first version of the proposed amendment language
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to his office for approval, sending advocates back to the drawing
board to draft new language. Griffin said the proposed language was
vague and “tinged with partisan coloring.”
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Former President Donald Trump won the state
by more than 27 points in 2020.

COLORADO

Both abortion rights and anti-abortion advocates have launched efforts
to put constitutional amendments on the ballot. A coalition of
reproductive rights groups has drafted language
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a proposed amendment that would repeal Colorado’s constitutional ban
on public funding for abortions, which currently bars state employees
or Coloradoans on Medicaid 
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having abortions covered by insurance. Two anti-abortion
activists have also filed draft language for a proposed ballot
measure
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would make abortion a crime and define life as beginning at
fertilization.  

Constitutional amendments require a 55 percent supermajority to pass
in Colorado. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is legally protected with no gestational
limits in Colorado. Lawmakers established a legal right to abortion in
2022 and passed additional protections for patients traveling to
Colorado from other states. Voters have also repeatedly rejected
constitutional amendments that would restrict abortion in the state.
* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED: 124,238
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: August 5
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Biden carried Colorado by 13 points in 2020.
Democrats will be targeting two competitive U.S. House districts,
including the Western Colorado district held by Rep. Lauren Boebert.

FLORIDA

Floridians Protecting Freedom is leading the charge
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get an amendment on the November 2024 ballot that would guarantee a
right to abortion up until the point of fetal viability in Florida’s
constitution. For years, Florida has been a critical access point for
abortion
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its neighboring states have heavily restricted or banned the
procedure.

Constitutional amendments require a 60 percent supermajority to pass
in Florida, and mobilizing Latinx voters
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be critical for the amendment’s success. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is banned after 15 weeks with no exceptions
for rape or incest. A six-week abortion ban lawmakers passed earlier
in 2023
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go into effect if the state Supreme Court upholds the 15-week ban.
* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED: 891,523
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: February 1
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Florida and its 30 Electoral College votes
hold significant sway in the presidential race, though the once-swing
state has trended Republican in recent election cycles. Florida will
also have a competitive U.S. Senate race on the ballot.
* CHALLENGES: Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed
a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court
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to block the abortion measure from getting on the ballot.

MARYLAND

Maryland voters will be voting on a constitutional amendment
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on the ballot by Maryland Democratic-controlled legislature that would
enshrine a broad right to abortion and other reproductive rights. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is legal up to the point of fetal viability
in Maryland. The right to abortion has been protected under state law
since the 1990s.
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Biden carried Maryland by 33 points in 2020.

MISSOURI

Multiple figures in Missouri have put forth proposals
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would repeal or loosen Missouri’s strict abortion ban, though they
disagree on the best approach
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One proposed measure, 11 versions of which have been submitted for
consideration, would establish a constitutional right to make
decisions on “all matters related to reproductive health care,”
including abortion. 

Another group led by a former GOP congressional staffer
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Jamie Corley, is proposing measures that would add rape and incest
exceptions
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existing state law and ensure protection against prosecution for
patients. Some of their proposals would also legalize abortion up to
12 weeks of pregnancy.

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is banned with no exceptions for rape or
incest in Missouri.
* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED: A minimum of 171,592
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: May 5
* CHALLENGES: The proposed ballot language for all the measures has
been tied up in court battles waged primarily by the state’s
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who unsuccessfully pushed
to inflate the estimated cost of the measures
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and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who suggested he’d refuse to
do his job
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an abortion measure passes. Most recently, the state Supreme Court
rejected Ashcroft’s proposed ballot summary language
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overtly partisan. But the protracted legal fights have left organizers
in limbo and delayed their ability to begin collecting signatures.
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Trump won Missouri by 15 points in 2020.

MONTANA

Montana abortion rights groups are taking steps toward putting an
abortion rights constitutional amendment
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the 2024 ballot. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana is drafting
language for a measure that would protect abortion up until the point
of fetal viability in the state constitution. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is legal to the point of fetal viability in
Montana, though lawmakers have made repeated efforts to restrict the
procedure
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The state Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the state constitution’s
right to privacy includes a right to abortion
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* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED: 60,359
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: July 19
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Trump carried Montana by 16 points in 2020.
Red state Democratic Sen. Jon Tester faces a competitive reelection
fight
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2024.

NEBRASKA 

Protect Our Rights, a coalition of advocates in Nebraska, are aiming
to put an amendment
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the November 2024 ballot guaranteeing a constitutional right
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abortion up to the point of fetal viability. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is banned after 12 weeks in Nebraska
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exceptions for rape, incest and threat to the life of the pregnant
patient.
* NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED: Signatures from 10 percent of
Nebraska registered voters, or a little over 120,000 people
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: July 5
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Nebraska splits up its electoral votes by
congressional district, and the Omaha-based 2nd District is a
battleground in both the U.S. House and the Electoral College; Trump
won the state overall by 19 points in 2020, but Biden carried the 2nd
District with 56 percent of the vote.

NEVADA

Abortion rights advocates want to put a measure on the 2024 ballot
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would establish a constitutional right to abortion before the point of
fetal viability in Nevada. 

Proposed constitutional amendments must pass in two consecutive
election cycles in Nevada, meaning if the measure gets on the ballot
and passes in 2024, it would go before voters again in 2026. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks in Nevada. In the
1990s, lawmakers codified a right to abortion in state law.
* SIGNATURES NEEDED: 102,362
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: June 26
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Nevada is a critical battleground state in
the 2024 presidential race; Biden carried the state by 2.4 points in
2020. Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is also facing a competitive
reelection race that will be key to Democrats’ hopes of holding
control of the U.S. Senate.
* CHALLENGES: A judge ruled
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November that the proposed measure violates Nevada’s requirement
that ballot measures address a single subject, a decision proponents
are likely to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

NEW YORK 

New Yorkers will be voting on a broad equal rights amendment
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would ban a wide range of discrimination and establish a right to
abortion and other reproductive health care in the state constitution.
The measure has been passed twice by the legislature and will now go
to the voters in 2024 for final approval. 

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is protected under state law. Lawmakers in
2019 removed abortion from being regulated in the state’s criminal
code and allowed the procedure at any stage of pregnancy to save the
patient’s life or health.
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: New York has several competitive U.S. House
races
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the ballot and will be critical to Democrats’ chances of taking back
control of the chamber. Some Democrats have said they hope
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equal rights amendment will boost turnout for Democrats.

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota was the first U.S. state to establish a citizen-led
ballot initiative process in 1898. In 2024, the group Dakotans for
Health wants to put a constitutional amendment
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the ballot that would guarantee a right to abortion in the first
trimester and only allow it to regulate abortion in ways “reasonably
related to the physical health of the pregnant woman” in the second
trimester.  

Major reproductive rights organizations, including the regional ACLU
and Planned Parenthood affiliates, aren’t supporting the 
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arguing the measure doesn’t go far enough and that Dakotans for
Health rushed drafting and submitting the language.

* CURRENT LAW: Abortion is banned in South Dakota with no exceptions
for rape or incest. Voters rejected anti-abortion constitutional
amendments in 2006 and 2008.
* SIGNATURES NEEDED: 35,017
* DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES: May 7.
* POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Trump carried South Dakota by 26 points in
2020.

WHERE ABORTION HAS WON ON THE BALLOT SINCE DOBBS 

CALIFORNIA

California voted to enshrine a right to abortion and contraception in
its state constitution in 2022. The measure passed with 67 percent of
the vote; Biden won the state by 29 points in 2020. 

MICHIGAN

Michigan established a constitutional right to abortion
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other reproductive health care, including contraception, miscarriage
care, fertility treatment, and pre- and post-natal care in 2022. The
measure passed with 57 percent of the vote; Biden won the state by
three points in 2020. 

OHIO

Ohio voted to protect a right to abortion
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until the point of viability as well as contraception, miscarriage
care and fertility treatment in its state constitution in 2023. The
measure passed with 57 percent of the vote; Trump won the state by
eight points in 2020. 

VERMONT

Vermont voted to add a right to “personal reproductive autonomy,”
including abortion, in its state constitution in 2022. The measure
passed with 77 percent of the vote; Biden won it by 35 points in
2020. 

GRACE PANETTA is a political reporter. She previously worked at
Insider for four years covering politics with a focus on elections and
voting. She holds a degree in political science from Barnard
College. [email protected]
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X [[link removed]], LinkedIn
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_Grace Panetta's work is free to consume and free to republish because
of contributions from readers like you. A donation of $19
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long way toward sustaining our nonprofit newsroom._

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