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Reproductive rights measures pass in seven states, fail in three
November 07 2024, 08:15

Voters in seven U.S. states passed ballot measures guaranteeing access to abortion in yesterday’s election. Three more states rejected them.

Measures to protect abortion rights passed in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York, but failed in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

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The losses ended an unbroken streak of wins for reproductive rights at the polls following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade.

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The number of votes in favor of the measures, even the losing ones, exceeded those for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Thirteen states now enforce what Harris calls “Trump abortion bans” at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar the procedure in most cases after six weeks.

In Florida, a majority of voters cast ballots to enshrine reproductive rights in the state’s constitution, but the measure required a 60% threshold to pass. Amendment 4 was defeated with 57% of Floridians voting in favor and 43% voting against.

“The reality is, because of Florida’s constitution, a minority of Florida voters have decided Amendment 4 will not be adopted,” Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the Yes on 4 Campaign, told the AP.

Brenzel said the vote was a message to legislators to address access to abortion by other means.

“We are mandating you to end Florida’s extreme abortion ban this legislative session.”

Florida law currently bans abortion at six weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is “a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country.”

The campaign against Amendment 4 was a political win for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who backed and signed the six-week ban. The failed presidential candidate sowed fear among the measure’s supporters, deploying investigators to question people who signed the petitions to add it to the ballot and threatening TV stations in the state when they aired a campaign spot in support of the measure.

In Missouri, voters added a guarantee to the state’s constitution for the right to abortion until fetal viability, with exceptions later in pregnancy to address physical or mental health. About 52% of voters backed the measure, with 48% opposed. 

“Today, Missourians made history and sent a clear message: decisions around pregnancy, including abortion, birth control and miscarriage care are personal and private and should be left up to patients and their families, not politicians,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, told the AP.

Voters in Arizona, Maryland, Montana and Nevada supported amendments to their state constitutions guaranteeing the right to abortion until fetal viability.

New York voters added protections to current law guaranteeing access to abortion by passing an Equal Rights Amendment banning discrimination over “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

In Colorado, 61% of voters approved an amendment to their constitution guaranteeing the right to an abortion at any stage of pregnancy.

In Nebraska, voters had a choice between competing measures, choosing to enshrine current law in the state’s constitution – which restricts abortion to the first trimester, or about 12 weeks – with exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, or incest. The second, allowing abortion up to fetal viability, failed 49% to 51%.

South Dakotans voted to maintain their near-total ban on the procedure, with 60% of voters rejecting the right to abortion in the first trimester. All abortions are banned in the state except when necessary to preserve a pregnant woman’s life.

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