An effort to ask Arizona voters to add the right to abortion to the state constitution took on a new dimension this week when the state Supreme Court ruled that the state can enforce a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
Arizona is one of the states where abortion may be on the agenda this year.
Across the country, there have been increasing efforts to ask voters questions about abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and struck down the right to abortion nationwide.
Since that 2022 decision, new abortion restrictions have gone into effect in most Republican-controlled states, including fourteen that ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-dominated states have laws or executive orders to protect access.
Additionally, voters in seven states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights advocates on ballot measures.
It is not yet clear how many states will vote on measures to enshrine access to abortion in November. In some cases it is questionable whether the proponents of amendments can obtain sufficient valid signatures. In other cases it is up to the legislator. And in some states there is legal wrangling.
Some attempts have not led to votes. Wisconsin’s legislative session ended without a vote in the Senate on a House-approved measure asking voters to ban abortion after 14 weeks. A Louisiana measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution died in committee, and a Maine measure effectively died when it failed to gain approval from two-thirds of the House of Representatives.
FLORIDA
The state Supreme Court ruled April 1 that a ballot measure to legalize abortion until viability could be brought to a vote, despite a legal challenge from Attorney General Ashley Moody, who argued that there are differing views on the meaning of “viability ‘ and that some The key terms in the proposed measure are not well defined.
Supporters collected nearly a million signatures to put a state constitutional amendment legalizing abortion through viability on the ballot, exceeding the required number of nearly 892,000.
Sixty percent of voters would have to agree for it to take effect.
Abortion is legal in Florida during the first fifteen weeks of pregnancy. But a separate April 1 Supreme Court ruling upholding the current law leads to a 2023 law that would reduce it to six weeks — often before women know they are pregnant — to take effect on May 1 .
MARYLAND
Maryland voters will also be asked this year whether they should enshrine women’s right to end their pregnancies in the state’s constitution, in a ballot question presented to them by lawmakers last year. The state already protects abortion rights under state law, and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Abortion is allowed in Maryland until viability is established.
NEW YORK
Lawmakers in New York agreed to ask voters to ban discrimination based on pregnancy, pregnancy outcome and reproductive health care as part of a broader equal protection amendment. It would also ban discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. The wording of the constitutional amendment does not specifically mention abortion. Abortion is permitted under New York law until viability is established.
ARIZONA
A signature campaign is underway to add a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona. Under the measure, the state would not be able to ban abortion until the fetus is viable, with later abortions allowed to protect a woman’s physical or mental health. Proponents must collect nearly 384,000 valid signatures by July 4. An April 9 Arizona Supreme Court decision allows a ban on abortion during pregnancy to take effect April 23.
ARKANSAS
Supporters of an amendment that would allow abortion in many cases have until July 5 to collect nearly 91,000 valid signatures to get it on the Nov. 5 ballot. The measure would ban laws that ban abortion during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if it is unlikely that the fetus will survive birth. Because it already allows 20-week limits, the proposal does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state has a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
COLORADO
There are dueling efforts on abortion in Colorado. One measure would create a voter-initiated law to ban access during pregnancy, and the other would amend the state constitution to protect it. The abortion rights amendment would also require Medicaid and private health insurance to cover abortion.
Supporters on both sides must submit more than 124,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot. The deadlines for submitting them are April 15 for the ban measure and April 26 for the measure to guarantee access. Changing the Constitution in Colorado requires the support of 55% of voters. But the ban could be passed with a simple majority. Abortion is legal in Colorado at all stages of pregnancy.
MISSOURI
Efforts are underway to get multiple abortion-related ballot measures before Missouri voters in 2024. Abortion rights advocates in Missouri are pushing for a measure that would guarantee abortion is legal until it is viable.
A group of moderate Republicans is taking a different approach, calling for an amendment that would allow abortion up to 12 weeks, and then only under limited exceptions.
Proponents of each measure must submit more than 171,000 valid signatures by May 5 to get them on the ballot.
And some Republican lawmakers have launched a legislative process to put before voters a measure to enshrine an abortion ban in the state constitution. It would be expanded to include an exception to allow immediate abortion to save the woman’s life or in cases “where delay poses a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” Further exceptions would have to be approved by voters.
Abortion is currently banned in Missouri at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.
MONTANA
Abortion rights advocates in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would prevent the government from denying the right to an abortion before viability or when it is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. After a legal battle over the ballot language, the Montana Supreme Court on April 1 wrote its version of the language that would appear on the ballot if supporters collected more than 60,000 signatures by June 21. Abortion is legal until viability in Montana under a 1999 Montana treaty. Supreme Court opinion.
NEBRASKA
Advocates are trying to gather about 125,000 signatures needed by July 5 to submit a constitutional amendment to voters to protect abortion rights until the viability of the fetus. Under a law passed last year, abortion is prohibited after 12 weeks, with some exceptions.
NEVADA
Signatures are being collected to place an abortion access amendment on Nevada’s November ballot. According to the amendment, access to abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy or later to protect the health of the pregnant person, which is already guaranteed under a 1990 law, would be enshrined in the constitution. More than 102,000 valid signatures are needed by June 26 to place the measure on the ballot. Voters would have to approve it in both 2024 and 2026 to amend the constitution.
The measure is one of several attempts by Nevada abortion rights groups to get a ballot question before voters in 2024 or 2026.
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota advocates are trying to gather more than 35,000 signatures by May 7 to get a measure on the ballot that would loosen restrictions but not go as far as many abortion rights advocates would like. It would ban all restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow the state in the second trimester to “regulate pregnant women’s abortion decision and its implementation only in ways reasonably related to the pregnant woman’s physical health.” An abortion ban would be allowed in the third trimester, as long as there are exceptions for the woman’s life and health. Planned Parenthood does not support the measure.
Abortion is now banned in the state at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
There are some states where the balance of power or other circumstances make it unlikely that abortion-related measures — most of which seek bans or restrictions — will reach voters in 2024.
IOWA
To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, Iowa lawmakers must approve it in two consecutive sessions. In 2021, both chambers introduced a resolution stating that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the state. Republicans control the Legislature and the governor’s office, but the amendment has not been prioritized this year and Gov. Kim Reynolds has said she will let the issue move through the courts rather than push for a vote. Abortion is currently prohibited from 20 weeks of pregnancy. A stricter ban, which would come into effect once heart activity can be detected, about six weeks, has been passed but suspended by a court.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania has a similar process as Iowa, with a similar amendment not to consider a constitutional right to abortion. Lawmakers passed it in 2022. But Democrats have since taken control of the statehouse, making it unlikely to pass, which is necessary before a statewide referendum can take place. Abortion is now legal in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.