Eight states with abortion on the ballot this November

As Democrats look to abortion to provide up and down-the-ballot support for their candidates, reproductive rights activists are shoring up grassroots support for the issue.

In Arizona, a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on the ballot received more than 800,000 signatures, which accounts for one-fifth of registered voters in the state and the largest amount of signatures gathered in state history. As of July, seven other states will have referendums on the ballot to expand abortion access. 

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, many swing and red states have rejected complete abortion bans and voted in favor of protecting access to abortion in some way. Voters in Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio voted to protect abortion rights in their states. In Kentucky, voters blocked an amendment to their state’s constitution that would have denied any constitutional protections for an abortion.

Here are eight states with abortion on the ballot this November. 

In Arizona, organizers with Arizona for Abortion Access turned in more than 823,685 signatures, which exceeded the required 383,923 signatures needed to get the referendum on the ballot.

The ballot measure would enshrine the right to an abortion and “that the state of Arizona may not interfere with before the point of fetal viability.” The point of fetal viability is believed to be around 23-24 weeks of pregnancy.

Arizona currently has a 15-week ban on abortion with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, which was signed by then-Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) and went into effect after the fall of Roe.

Earlier this year, abortion access in the state was put in limbo after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 near-total ban on abortion was enforceable. Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) signed legislation that prevented that ban from taking place.

“Here in Arizona, politicians have been playing games with reproductive health care,” Andrew Carroll, a family physician in Chandler, said. “It’s on us to stop this dangerous interference. It’s on us to vote yes on the Arizona Abortion Access Act to ensure that medical decisions are made by patients, their loved ones and their trusted health care providers.”

While Colorado currently has no restrictions on abortion after a certain point in a pregnancy, the Right to an Abortion initiative looks to enshrine that into the state’s construction. 

On the ballot, voters will decide on Initiative 89, which would create a right to abortion in the state constitution and allow public funds to be used for abortions.

The measure is backed by the group Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, which is a coalition of abortion advocates, including Cobalt and the ACLU of Colorado. The group cites uncertainty regarding abortion access after the fall of Roe as one of the reasons for the initiative.

“In this time of uncertainty, we need to secure abortion rights and access in the Colorado Constitution, beyond the reach of politics and politicians. This initiative will secure that right for present and future generations,” Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt and co-chair of the coalition, said in a statement. 

“A right isn’t a right if you can’t exercise it because you can’t afford it. We have to ensure that insurance coverage for every Coloradan, whether the source of it is public or private, includes abortion care. Colorado voters have made it clear over and over again that they support abortion rights, and we are confident they will again in November,” the statement continued.

In Florida, voters will be given the opportunity to establish the right to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability in their state constitution. Abortion is currently banned in the Sunshine State after six weeks, with exceptions for exceptions for rape, incest, and if the pregnancy endangers the health of the mother.

There is, however, a 60% threshold required for any measure to pass in Florida, which could complicate the measure’s chances. Democrats are hoping abortion could give the once-swing state turned Republican stronghold some glimmer of hope of a blue future. 

A June Fox News poll indicates that 69% of Florida voters support the initiative.

Voters in Maryland will also be given the opportunity to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution. 

If successful, the measure will add an article to the Maryland Constitution's Declaration of Rights, effectively establishing a right to reproductive freedom, defined to include "the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one's own pregnancy."

"I’ve been very clear from the beginning that as long as I am the Governor of Maryland, our state will be a safe haven for abortion access. This constitutional amendment will make sure it remains that way, no matter who is in office,” Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) said in his endorsement. 

The group behind the Nebraska Right to Abortion Initiative has collected enough signatures to make it on the ballot. Protect Our Rights, the group leading the ballot effort, said it the 207,000 registered voters in  Nebraska had been collected, exceeding the 123,000 the measure needed.

The measure would enshrine the right to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability in Nebraska’s constitution.

"As mothers, doctors, families, concerned citizens and people navigating pregnancy, we were united in the belief that patients and providers should have the freedom to make their own health care decisions, not politicians," Ashlei Spivey, a member of Protect Our Rights’ executive committee,

Abortion is currently legal in Nebraska up to the 12th week of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, and if the mother’s life is in danger.

A measure to protect abortion rights and “gender identity” will appear on New York’s ballot this year. The ​​Democratic-controlled state legislature was behind the “Equal Rights Amendment.”

If successful, the measure will codify abortion rights in the New York Constitution while also expanding protections against discrimination based on one’s race, religion, and gender.

While the New York state constitution currently bans discrimination based on race, color, or religion, the measure will ask voters if people cannot be discriminated against based on their "ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability" or sex, including "sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy."

“The anti-abortion minority’s cynical attempt to block this popular amendment from appearing on our ballots has once again been rejected, as expected," Sasha Ahuja, the group's campaign director, said in a statement. "Now more than ever, we need to make sure our fundamental rights and reproductive freedoms — including abortion — are protected from changing political tides."

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) pushed for the amendment, citing the Supreme Court’s "extreme" decision in overturning Roe.

In Nevada, the Right to an Abortion initiative enshrines in the state’s constitution that abortions can be performed until the point of fetal viability, or when to “protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.” Abortion is currently legal in Nevada until this point, but this measure would ensure future state laws could not take away the right down the road.

“At every turn, anti-abortion activists have attempted to prevent Nevadans from making their voices heard with pointless lawsuits and misinformation,” Lindsey Harmon, the president of the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, said in a statement.

The measure would have to be voted on again in 2026, however, as Nevada law requires constitutional amendments to be voted upon twice by the statewide electorate.

A South Dakota ballot question would give South Dakotans the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution. If approved by voters, there would be a trimester style framework for how abortion could be regulated by the state.

During the first trimester, the state would be prohibited from any regulation on someone’s decision to get an abortion. 

In the second trimester, which is between weeks 13-27 of a pregnancy, the state can regulate abortion, but "only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.”

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In the third and final trimester, South Dakota could regulate or prohibit abortion except in cases when "when abortion is necessary, in the medical judgment of the woman's physician, to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman."

Abortion is currently completely banned in the state except in cases to "preserve the life of the pregnant female," under “reasonable medical judgment.”