In November, voters across the country may have the opportunity to shape the future of abortion access in their state by voting on measures aimed at either restoring or restricting the right to an abortion. The goal for abortion rights advocates is to 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, following a series of restrictive trigger laws and policies that have been implemented since the Dobbs decision.
Three states, Florida, Maryland, and New York, have already secured abortion measures on the 2024 ballot. Florida, in particular, is a critical access point for people seeking abortion services in a region where access is becoming increasingly limited. Organizers in other states are working to secure funding, gather signatures, and navigate the legal processes necessary to get abortion measures on the ballot. This typically involves collecting signatures by a designated deadline and having the ballot language approved by a state court, with support from coalitions of reproductive health advocates who are fundraising for the campaigns.
Proposed measures in Arizona, Nevada, and Montana seek to protect abortion access up to the point of viability, which doctors define as around 24 weeks into pregnancy. Other potential measures in states like Arkansas, South Dakota, Missouri, and South Dakota have varying levels of restrictions on abortion access, with some seeking to enshrine near-total abortion bans into state constitutions. Some measures, such as those in Nevada and Montana, allow for abortion past the point of viability in cases where a doctor deems it necessary to protect the pregnant person’s life or health.
In states like Iowa and Pennsylvania, proposed measures seek to restrict abortion access by establishing that public funding cannot be used for the procedure. However, these measures are unlikely to pass their state legislatures. Voters in at least two states could see conflicting measures on the 2024 ballot aimed at either protecting or restricting abortion access. In states that have already voted on abortion access since Roe v. Wade was overturned, measures aimed at protecting abortion access have overwhelmingly passed, while measures seeking to restrict it have failed.
Reproductive health advocates see these ballot measures as an important layer of legal protection for patients and providers, as well as a message to elected officials about the desires of voters. While support for abortion access may be strong in certain states like California, these votes serve as a way for voters to express their views and preferences on the issue. Overall, the efforts to secure abortion measures on the 2024 ballot represent a crucial moment in the ongoing battle for reproductive rights and access to abortion across the country.
