Arizona and Missouri join states that will vote on abortion in November

Washington. Election officials in Arizona and Missouri announced this week that abortion rights supporters in their states had gathered enough petition signatures to include proposed amendments enshrining abortion rights in their state constitutions, bringing to seven the number of states that will vote on abortion in elections scheduled for November.

The U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the national right to abortion with a 2022 ruling that sparked a national movement to place the decision in the hands of voters.

Since the ruling, most Republican-run states have passed abortion restrictions, including 14 that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access to the procedure.

Voters in all seven states that have put abortion questions to voters starting in 2022 — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters.

Missouri

Missouri voters will decide whether to guarantee abortion rights with a constitutional amendment that would overturn the state’s near-total ban.

The state secretary of government’s office certified Tuesday that an initiative petition received more than enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the general election. It will need approval from a majority of voters to be enshrined in the state Constitution. The Missouri ballot measure would create the right to abortion until a fetus can survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures, typically around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy. The ballot measure would allow abortions after fetal viability if a health care professional determines it is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the mother.

Arizona

Arizona voters will decide in November whether to amend their state’s constitution to include the right to abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Arizona secretary of state’s office said Monday it had certified enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

Under the proposed amendment, the state would not be able to ban abortion until a fetus is viable, and later abortions would be allowed to protect a woman’s physical or mental health. Opponents of the proposed amendment say it goes too far and could lead to unlimited, unregulated abortions in Arizona. Supporters say it would protect access to abortion free from political interference.

Currently, abortion is legal during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona.

Colorado

Colorado’s top election official confirmed in May that a measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, along with requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover the procedure, made it onto the ballot for the fall election.

Supporters said they gathered nearly twice the number of signatures needed.

Amending the state constitution requires the support of 55% of voters.

Abortion is now legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado.

Florida

The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a measure to legalize abortion up to viability could be included on the ballot despite a legal challenge from the state. Ashley Moody, the attorney general, has argued that there are different views on the meaning of “viability,” and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not adequately defined.

To pass, the measure needs support from at least 60% of voters, a high threshold that supporters say they hope to reach after collecting nearly a million signatures to get the petition on the ballot.

Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy, under a law that went into effect May 1.

Maryland

Maryland voters will also be asked this year to choose whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state Constitution. Abortion is already permitted there up to viability.

Nevada

The Nevada secretary of state’s office announced in June that the ballot question on whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution has met all requirements to go before voters in November.

Under the amendment, access to abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy — or later to protect the health of the pregnant person — would be protected. To change the Constitution, voters would have to approve it in either 2024 or 2026.

Abortion until viability is already permitted in the state under a law passed in 1990.

Dakota del Sur

South Dakota voters will decide this fall on a constitutional amendment that would ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. The measure would allow the state in the second trimester to “regulate a pregnant woman’s decision to obtain an abortion and to perform it only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” A ban on abortion in the third trimester would be allowed, as long as it includes exceptions for risks to the woman’s life or health.

Opponents have filed a lawsuit to try to get the initiative off the ballot.

While it does not explicitly preserve the right to abortion, a question on reproductive rights will be on the New York state ballot. The measure would ban discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” along with sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. Currently, abortion is allowed in New York up to fetal viability.

The question was already on the ballot but was struck down in May by a judge who found lawmakers skipped a procedural step when they included it. An appeals court reinstated it in June.

Montana

Abortion rights advocates in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the government from denying the right to abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the life or health of the mother.

After a legal battle over the ballot question’s wording, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the language that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures were certified. Supporters were required to submit about 60,000 signatures by June 21. They turned in nearly double that number — about 117,000 — and have said counties have validated more than enough signatures. The secretary of state has until Aug. 22 to finalize the November ballot.

Abortion is already legal in the state up to viability under a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling.

Nebraska

Rival abortion proposals could be put before voters in November after supporters on each side said this month they had turned in far more signatures than the 123,000 needed to get them on ballots.

One would enshrine in the state constitution the right to abortion until viability. Supporters said they submitted more than 207,000 signatures.

The other would add to the constitution the current law, which bans abortion after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Supporters said they have submitted more than 205,000 signatures.

The measure that gets the most votes will become part of the state Constitution.