2024 election results show nation divided on abortion as states split on ballot measures
The 2024 election brought mixed outcomes for the pro-life movement, as voters in multiple states approved pro-abortion ballot measures, while similar referendums failed in other states.
Alongside the presidential election and other federal, state and local races, voters nationwide went to the polls on Tuesday to decide on a range of ballot measures. In nine states, referendums asked voters whether they supported amending their state constitutions to establish a right to abortion.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which found that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion, several states have enacted pro-life protections, restricting abortion to the earliest weeks of pregnancy or instituting near-total bans. In response, some states held referendums in both 2022 and 2023, asking voters if they want to establish a right to abortion in their state constitutions.
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The referendums passed in all four states, ranging from the deep blue states of California and Vermont to the swing state of Michigan and the red state of Ohio.
This year, voters in nine states weighed in on similar measures: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. Voters in a tenth state, New York, decided the fate of an Equal Rights Amendment that would amend the state constitution to add “gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare [abortion] and autonomy” to a list of characteristics passed under state law.
In Florida, unlike the other states with such a measure on the ballot, Amendment 4 needed to secure the support of 60% of voters. It fell short of that threshold by securing the support of 57% of voters, marking the first time since the Dobbs decision that a referendum to establish a state constitutional right to abortion failed. With the failure of Amendment 4, Florida’s six-week abortion ban will remain in effect.
Nebraska was the only state where dueling ballot measures related to abortion appeared before voters. While one ballot question asked voters whether they wanted to establish a right to abortion in the state constitution, the other asked whether they wanted to prohibit abortions after the first trimester. Since the measures were mutually exclusive, whichever one received the most support from Nebraska voters would take effect.
With nearly all of the votes counted, a majority of voters in Nebraska (51%) rejected Initiative 439, which would have established a right to abortion. On the other hand, 55% of Nebraska voters supported Initiative 434, which would prohibit abortions after the first trimester.
Nebraska became the first state where a majority of voters have rejected a pro-abortion constitutional amendment after the Dobbs decision and the first state where a majority of voters approved pro-life protections in the past two years. Following Tuesday’s election results, Nebraska’s current abortion law banning abortion at 12 weeks gestation is expected to remain in effect.
South Dakota’s Amendment G, which would have established a right to abortion in the state constitution, failed by a nearly 2-1 margin. With just over 90% of the votes counted, nearly 66% of South Dakota voters rejected the measure. This means that South Dakota’s near-total ban on abortion is expected to remain in effect.
Pro-life advocacy groups cheered their movement’s victories in the three states.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser reacted to the referendum results in the three states in a statement on Wednesday. “We celebrate the lives that will be saved with the defeat of pro-abortion ballot measures in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota,” she said.
“The pro-life states of Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota have disrupted abortion activists’ track record, showing the path forward is to fight for life following the examples of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Dusty Johnson,” Dannenfelser added.
“When GOP leaders engage, extreme abortion ballot measures fail because they are exposed for what they are and fear-mongering lies are refuted. Republicans must be as devoted as DeSantis to explain how these measures allow abortion until birth and take away parental rights.”
Dannenfelser added: “Up against more than $110 million from the abortion lobby and an army of legacy media reporters going to bat for Amendment 4, DeSantis did not back down. He traveled across the state to make sure voters knew the measure would allow abortion at any point and take away parental consent. Sen. Pete Ricketts fundraised, contributed and provided leadership to give Nebraskans a commonsense alternative to the ACLU’s abortion amendment.”
Noting how “Rep. Dusty Johnson ran ads and sent mailers informing South Dakotans that Amendment G had no limit,” Dannenfelser concluded, “If the playing field is evened by pro-life elected officials fighting back, life wins.”
While pro-abortion ballot measures faced defeat in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota, the referendums had much better success in the seven other states.
Although more than 10% of the vote remains outstanding in some of these states, unofficial election results show that the referendums secured widespread support in excess of 60% in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New York, while passing with more than 70% in Maryland.
Narrower majorities of voters in the deep red states of Missouri and Montana voted in favor of amending their constitutions to establish a right to abortion. While Colorado, Maryland, Montana and Nevada already had few or no pro-life protections prior to the passage of the pro-abortion amendments, abortion policy will change dramatically in Arizona and Missouri as a result of Tuesday’s vote. Arizona is expected to see its 15-week abortion ban reversed, while Missouri’s near-total abortion ban will experience a similar fate.
This year's ballot measures with wide-ranging implications for social policy extended beyond the issue of abortion. Efforts to legalize recreational marijuana failed in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota, while measures asking voters to allow the use of state taxpayer dollars for students attending faith-based private schools came up short in Kentucky and Nebraska.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
