5 Things About State Votes to Protect Abortion Rights

Abortion rights were on the ballot in the 2024 election, and 4 states that lent their votes to President-elect Donald J. Trump also passed ballot measures protecting abortion under their state’s Constitution: Arizona, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada.

State-level protection was also granted to Colorado, Maryland, and New York, all of which voted blue for the last 3 elections. However, measures were not passed in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota, which voted red in all 3 elections since 2016.

Arizona, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada voted to protect abortion rights under their state’s Constitution | Image credit: sibway – stock.adobe.com

In June 2022, Trump’s 3 Supreme Court appointees were part of the majority that supported the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v Wade and gave states the power to regulate abortion access. Two years after this decision, though, Trump has stated that some state-level abortion laws are “too tough,” and that “those are going to be redone because already there’s a movement in those states.”

He also recently said he will not sign a national abortion ban, but earlier this year showed support of a 15-week ban and said “he would sit down with both sides and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with,” Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for Trump’s campaign, said in a statement. His views of medication abortion and contraception have also been inconsistent, but a concern among Americans is that Project 2025—a policy agenda developed by Trump administration alumni—aims to ban the distribution of abortion pills by mail under the Comstock Act.

Here are 4 of the states that voted to increase protections to access abortion, as well as the blue states that confirmed protection.

1. Arizona

Arizona voters successfully overturned an abortion ban put in place since the overturn of Roe v Wade in 2022. This week, 61% of voters responded “yes” to Proposition 139, which “would amend the state Constitution to establish a fundamental right to the procedure, limiting the state’s power to interfere with this right before fetal viability.”

The existing law in Arizona bans abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, but Proposition 139 will guarantee abortion access up to fetal viability, which is around 24 weeks or about 6 months of pregnancy. The new measure also allows exceptions for abortions after 24 weeks in cases where a pregnant person’s life or physical or mental health is in danger, and prohibits any law penalizing a person who helps someone access an abortion. The state's legislature is expected to reconvene on the issue in January.

Arizona first voted for Trump in 2016, then President Joe Biden in 2020. At the time of publication, Arizona has 76% of votes counted with a lean towards Trump. In April 2024, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to enforce a near-total abortion ban from 1864, criminalizing nearly all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest. However, the following month, state lawmakers voted to repeal the law, with Governor Katie Hobbs signing the bill that went into effect in September.

2. Missouri

In a close race, 52% of voters in Missouri supported Amendment 3, which will remove the state’s abortion ban and replace it with “a constitutional right to reproductive rights.” This decision allows the state to restrict abortion access after fetal viability and is expected to take effect 30 days after the vote.

Just hours after the ballot was passed, Missouri’s Planned Parenthood affiliates filed a legal challenge Wednesday to block the state’s near-total abortion ban and other restrictions. The lawsuit, submitted in Jackson County Circuit Court, aims to overturn the 2022 ban enacted after Roe v Wade was overturned, and seeks to lift restrictions to allow clinics in Kansas City, Columbia, and St. Louis to resume offering abortions by December 5, 2024.

Missouri’s existing ban is one of the strictest in the US, prohibiting abortion throughout pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest, only allowing it to save the mother's life or prevent serious injury. Tuesday’s vote to remove this ban was not unexpected, as some experts predicted the strictness of the ban would prompt more support of Amendment 3.

Missouri voted for Trump during all 3 of his candidacies, and some worry that GOP lawmakers may attempt to undo this ballot vote next year. However, exact details are unclear of what a new proposition may look like, and whether it would aim to restore another complete ban or a 15-week one.

3. Montana

In Montana, 58% voted to establish a right to an abortion in the state Constitution and prohibit the government from punishing doctors who provide abortions and patients who receive them.

Amendment 128 will not change the state’s current law on abortion, which is legal until fetal viability as supported by a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling. With Montana historically leaning Republican, advocates of the ballot wanted to safeguard the state-level right to abortion in the first vote since the Dobbs decision.

This vote also prevents 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.”

4. Nevada's Measure Must Pass on the 2026 General Election Ballot

While 64% of voters in Nevada responded in favor of Question 6 on their ballot, the proposition to protect abortion until fetal viability will not automatically become law. Instead, the question will be posed again on a 2026 general election ballot and must pass before being added to the state Constitution.

The ballot measure, led by Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, secures the right to abortion in the state constitution up to viability and allows it afterward if needed to safeguard the pregnant person’s life or physical health.

Nevada has leaned blue in recent elections up until this year, and the state’s abortion policies are a mix of protections and restrictions. Passed in 2022, Nevada’s Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has been used to challenge abortion restrictions, and in September 2024, a state court ruled that banning Medicaid coverage for abortion violated the ERA. In 2023, Nevada had approximately 16,000 clinician-provided abortions, marking a 45% increase from 2020. This was largely due to an influx of patients from states like Arizona, Texas, and Utah who sought out-of-state care after the Dobbs decision; the share of out-of-state patients rose from 5% in 2020 to 16% in 2023.

In the meantime, abortion remains legal in Nevada up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and in later cases if the physician believes the pregnant person’s life or health is at risk.

5. Blue state confirmations

New York, Maryland, and Colorado all confirmed state-level protections for accessing abortion. In all 3 states, abortion was already broadly legal. Colorado repealed a law that prohibited the use of public funds to pay for abortions. Colorado's measure passed with 62% of the vote. New York's measure, granting equal rights including protection from pregnancy discrimination, passed with 62%, as well. Maryland's measure protecting the right to reproductive freedom passed with 74% of the vote.