(NewsNation) — Almost a dozen states are asking voters to decide on Tuesday whether reproductive rights should be guaranteed under state law.
A record 10 states had abortion rights measures on their ballots this year in response to restrictions and bans on reproductive rights across the country.
Most measures gave voters a choice to solidify the right to abortion in state constitutions.
The 10 states that voted on abortion were: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
All but two of the measures were citizen-led, meaning they were written by citizen groups and placed on ballots after getting enough signatures.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, launching a national push to have voters decide abortion laws at the state level.
Since then, a number of states have tackled the issue, with the last big wave of ballot measures taking place in 2022 when six states put abortion to a vote.
Abortion rights advocates made a huge push over the last two years to get initiatives on ballots, including in Missouri and South Dakota where abortion is a near-total ban.
The efforts were an uphill battle for many states where reproductive rights advocates faced legal fights in courts brought by anti-abortion groups seeking to remove measures from ballots.
Abortion was a major issue central to driving voters to the polls in the 2022 midterm elections, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In polling leading up to Election Day, abortion had surpassed inflation to be the top issue in the presidential election for young women.
Watch as real-time results fill in the tracker below on abortion rights measures:
Arizona
Arizona’s Proposition 139 “creates a fundamental right to abortion. Limits the state’s ability to interfere with that right before fetal viability. After fetal viability, abortions are allowed when necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant individual. prohibits laws penalizing a person for assisting an individual obtaining an abortion.”
A “Yes” vote creates a fundamental right to abortion under Arizona’s constitution. The State will not be able to interfere with this fundamental right before fetal viability unless it has a compelling reason and does so in the least restrictive way possible.
A “No” vote rejects a fundamental right to an abortion under Arizona’s constitution and will leave in place the current laws that restrict abortions before fetal viability.
Colorado
Colorado Amendment 79 “proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to make abortion a constitutional right in Colorado; and repeal the existing constitutional ban on state and local government funding for abortion services.”
A “Yes” vote on Amendment 79 places the right to abortion in the Colorado Constitution and repeals the current ban on state and local funding for abortion services.
A “No” vote on Amendment 79 continues the ban on state and local funding for abortion services and maintains the authority of the state legislature to determine the legality of abortion in the state.
Florida
Florida’s Amendment 4 says “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
A “Yes” vote on the amendment supports adding the right to abortion in Florida’s constitution.
A “No” vote opposes changing the constitution and would keep Florida’s current six-week abortion ban in place.
Maryland
Maryland Question 1 is a “proposed amendment that confirms an individual’s fundamental right to an individual’s own reproductive liberty and provides the State may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge the right unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
A “Yes” supports adding a new article to the Maryland Constitution’s Declaration of Rights establishing a right to reproductive freedom.
A “No” opposes amending the state constitution to establish a right to reproductive freedom.
Missouri
Missouri Amendment 3 states:
“Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to: establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid; remove Missouri’s ban on abortion; allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient; require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?”
A “Yes” vote establishes a constitutional right to reproductive care under the language.
A “No” vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri.
Montana
Montana CI-128 “would amend the Montana Constitution to expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion. It would prohibit the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability. It would also prohibit the government from denying or burdening access to an abortion when a treating healthcare professional determines it is medically indicated to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health. CI-128 prevents the government from penalizing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in exercising their right to make and carry out voluntary decisions about their pregnancy.”
A “Yes” vote supports amending the Montana constitution to provide a state constitutional right to make decisions about pregnancy and right to abortion.
A “No” vote opposes amending the constitution and allows the state to regulate abortion after fetal viability, except when “medically indicated to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
Nebraska
Nebraska has two competing abortion measures.
Initiative Measure 439 asks “Shall the Nebraska Constitution be amended to include a new section which provides: “All persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions. Fetal viability means the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient’s treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’ sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.””
A vote “For” amends the Nebraska Constitution to provide that all persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions.
A vote “Against” will not amend the Nebraska Constitution in such manner.
Nebraska Initiative Measure 434 asks “Shall the Nebraska Constitution be amended to include a new section which provides: “Except when a woman seeks an abortion necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest, unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters.
A vote “For” will amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide that, except when a woman seeks an abortion necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest, unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters.
A vote “Against” will not amend the Nebraska Constitution in such a manner.
Nevada
Nevada Question 6 asks “should the Nevada Constitution be amended to create an individual’s fundamental right to an abortion, without interference by state or local governments, whenever the abortion is performed by a qualified healthcare professional until fetal viability or when necessary to protect the health or life of the pregnant individual at any point during the pregnancy?”
A “Yes” vote would create a new section of the Nevada Constitution to establish a person’s constitutional right to abortion, so that a person can make decisions about matters relating to abortion and reproductive healthcare, without interference from state or local governments.
A “No” vote would keep the Nevada Constitution in its current form and would not impact the availability of abortion as a statutory right under Nevada law.
New York
New York Question 1 asks that the state constitution be amended to read as follows:
“No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.”
A “Yes” vote puts these protections against discrimination in the New York State Constitution.
A “No” vote leaves these protections out of the State Constitution.
South Dakota
South Dakota Amendment G “establishes a constitutional right to an abortion and provides a legal framework for the regulation of abortion. This framework would override existing laws and regulations concerning abortion. The amendment establishes that during the first trimester a pregnant woman’s decision to obtain an abortion may not be regulated nor may regulations be imposed on the carrying out of an abortion. In the second trimester, the amendment allows the regulation of a pregnant woman’s abortion decision, and the regulation of carrying out an abortion. Any regulation of a pregnant woman’s abortion decision, or of an abortion, during the second trimester must be reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman. In the third trimester, the amendment allows the regulation or prohibition of abortion except in those cases where the abortion is necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman. Whether an abortion is necessary during the third trimester must be determined by the pregnant woman’s physician according to the physician’s medical judgment. Judicial clarification of the amendment may be necessary. The Legislature cannot alter the provisions of a constitutional amendment.”
A “Yes” vote will adopt the amendment.
A “No” vote to leave the Constitution as it is.
