Abortion

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 11.6.2024 9:15 AM

It was a pretty good night for reproductive freedom initiatives, which prevailed in seven of the ten states where they were on the ballot.

Measures meant to protect abortion access were approved by voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York. And most of these weren't close calls at all.

Still, the results are out of line with a trend seen since the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Until yesterday, the pro-choice position prevailed in every state where abortion-related measures were on the ballot, including in red states such as Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio.

That 2024 election pattern is broken somewhat by results in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. But even in two of these states, strong support for pro-choice policies was clear.

In Florida, 57 percent of voters supported Amendment 4, an Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion. Had it passed, Amendment 4—which was fought bitterly by the DeSantis administration—would have amended the Florida constitution to say that "no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health." Currently, the state only allows abortion until six weeks pregnancy.

Fifty-seven percent in favor may seem like a win, but it falls short of the 60 percent approval threshold required for constitutional amendments in Florida.

In Nebraska, 48.7 percent of voters approved the state's Right to Abortion measure, (Initiative 439), which would have amended the constitution to declare that "all persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability." It was a close call, yet ultimately a loss. But a competing measure—Initiative 434—passed 55.3 percent to........

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