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By Lilith Foster-Collins
News Reporter
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Seven states have abortion votes set for November as Arizona and Missouri this week joined the list.
Election officials in Arizona and Missouri announced that abortion-rights supporters in their states had gathered enough petition signatures to put proposed amendments enshrining abortion rights into their states' constitutions.
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, thus removing the nationwide right to abortion. Since then, states have responded by passing their own laws.
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Most Republican-controlled states have passed abortion restrictions. Fourteen states now ban abortion at every stage of pregnancy. Meanwhile, most Democratic-led states have passed legislation that protects access to abortion.
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Since 2022, seven states have put abortion questions before voters: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont. All have voted with abortion rights supporters.
Missouri
Missouri voters in November will decide on a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to an abortion, effectively reversing the state's near-total ban.
The ballot measure would establish a right to abortion until a fetus is likely to survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures. The measure would also permit abortions after fetal viability if a healthcare professional determines it's necessary to protect the pregnant woman's life or physical/mental health.
Arizona
Arizona voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to protect the right to an abortion up to about 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The amendment would prevent the state from banning abortion until the fetus is viable, and later abortions will be allowed to protect a pregnant woman's physical or mental health.
Currently, abortion is legal in the state for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Colorado
While abortion is already legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado, voters in the state will consider a measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, along with requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover abortion.
Support from 55 percent of the state's voters is needed to amending the state constitution.
Florida
In April, Florida's state Supreme Court ruled that a measure to legalize abortion until viability could appear on the ballot in November even though the state mounted a legal challenge.
The measure requires 60 percent of voter support in oder to pass.
Currently, abortion is illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy.
Maryland
In Maryland, voters will decided whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state's constitution in November. Currently, abortion is allowed in the state until viability.
Nevada
Abortion is currently allowed up until viability in Nevada, but voters in the state will consider an amendment to enshrine abortion access for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, with later abortions allowed when protecting the health of the pregnant person.
However, voters would need to approved the measure in both 2024 and 2026 to change the state's constitution.
South Dakota
South Dakota voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would prohibit any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.
The measure would allow the state to regulate abortion in the second trimester only in ways reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman, and an abortion ban would be allowed in the third trimester, provided it includes exceptions for the life and health of the woman.
New York
New York voters will not directly consider abortion access but will vote on a measure banning discrimination based on "pregnancy outcomes" and "reproductive healthcare," along with sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability.
The state currently allows abortion until fetal viability.
This measure was initially removed from the ballot in May by a judge who ruled that lawmakers had missed a procedural step. However, an appeals court reinstated it in June.
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