LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Organizers of an effort to scale back Arkansas’ abortion ban face a Friday deadline to submit enough signatures to try to put their proposal before voters in November’s election.
If they’re successful, Arkansas would be the sixth state where election officials are validating signatures on abortion measures. They are already on the ballot in another five, plus a proposed amendment in New York that would bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes.”
Supporters of other abortion measures in Arizona and Nebraska submitted petitions in their respective states on Wednesday.
The fate of the measures could reshape or confirm the trendlines that have developed in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion.
Since the ruling, most Republican-controlled states have new abortion restrictions in effect, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access.
Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions before voters since 2022 have sided with abortion rights supporters, including California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont.
Here’s a look at the abortion measures that could be on ballots in November:
COLORADO
Colorado’s top election official confirmed in May that a measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, including requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover it, made the ballot for the fall election.
Supporters said they gathered more than 225,000 signatures, nearly double the requirement of over 124,000 signatures. Amending the state constitution requires the support of 55% of voters.
Those backing a dueling measure — a law to ban abortion — did not submit signatures and the measure will not go before voters.
Abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado.
FLORIDA
The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a ballot measure to legalize abortion until fetal viability could go on the ballot despite a legal challenge from state Attorney General Ashley Moody, who argued there are differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not properly defined.
Advocates collected nearly a million signatures to put a state constitutional amendment to legalize abortion until viability on the ballot, surpassing the nearly 892,000 required.
To take effect, the measure would need agreement from at least 60% of voters.
Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, under a law that took effect May 1.
MARYLAND
Voters also will be asked this year to enshrine the right to abortion in Maryland’s constitution. The state already protects the right to abortion under state law and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Abortion is allowed in Maryland until viability.
NEVADA
The Nevada Secretary of State ‘s office announced in June that a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has met all of the requirements to appear in front of voters in November.
Under the amendment, abortion access for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, or later to protect the health of the pregnant person, would be enshrined. Such access already is ensured under a 1990 law.
To change the constitution, voters would need to approve it in both 2024 and 2026.
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota voters will vote this fall on a measure to ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow the state, in the second trimester, to “regulate the pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its effectuation only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.”
An abortion ban would be allowed in the third trimester, as long as it included exceptions for the life and health of the woman.
The state’s top election official announced May 16 that about 85% of the more than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the ballot initiative are valid, exceeding the required 35,017 signatures.
Opponents have sued to try to take the initiative off the ballot.
ARIZONA
Abortion rights supporters submitted more than 823,000 signatures on Wednesday to put an abortion access measure before voters in November. That’s more than twice as many as required.
Election officials still need to verify the signatures.
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.
Abortion is currently legal for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy in the state. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in April that enforcement could begin soon for a near-total ban already on the books. The governor has since signed a bill repealing that law. It is still expected to be in effect for a time, however.
ARKANSAS
Proponents of an amendment to allow abortion in many cases must gather nearly 91,000 signatures by Friday for the measure to get on the Nov. 5 ballot. They also must submit a minimum number of signatures from 50 of 75 counties.
Supporters said on Wednesday they were about 5,800 short of the requirement with two days left to circulate petitions.
The measure would bar laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth.
Because it allows abortion to be banned 20 weeks into pregnancy, the proposal does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state currently bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions.
Anti-abortion groups in the predominantly Republican state also have campaigned heavily against the measure, and one group published the names and hometowns of canvassers gathering signatures for the proposal.
MISSOURI
Missouri abortion rights advocates turned in more than 380,000 signatures, more than twice the required 171,000, for a measure asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion until viability. Local election officials have until July 30 to verify the signatures, then it’s up to the secretary of state to declare whether there were enough.
A group of moderate Republicans have for this year abandoned efforts for an alternate amendment that would have allowed abortion up to 12 weeks, with limited exceptions after that time.
Abortion is currently banned in Missouri at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.
MONTANA
Abortion rights proponents in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the government from denying the right to abortion before viability or when it’s necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
After a legal battle over the ballot language, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the language that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures are certified. Sponsors were required to submit about 60,000 by June 21. They turned in about 117,000, nearly twice the amount needed.
Counties have until July 19 to verify the signatures and the secretary of state would have until Aug. 22 to determine whether the amendment goes on the ballot.
Abortion is legal until viability in Montana under a 1999 Montana Supreme Court opinion.
NEBRASKA
Competing abortion measures could come before voters in November after supporters of each said Wednesday they turned in far more signatures than the 123,000 required for ballot access.
One would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution until viability. Supporters said they submitted more than 207,000 signatures.
The other would write into the constitution the current law which bars abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Its backers said they submitted more than 205,000 signatures.
Organizers for a third effort did not submit petitions. It would have defined embryos as people, thus barring abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
Some efforts that sought to restrict or ban abortion also have failed to reach ballots. In Wisconsin, the House approved a measure asking voters to ban abortion after 14 weeks, but the legislative session ended without a vote from the state Senate.
Likewise, Iowa lawmakers ended their session without approving a measure asking voters to find there is no constitutional right to abortion. Pennsylvania lawmakers previously pursued a similar amendment, but it’s not expected to be added to the ballot this year.
A Louisiana measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution died in committee, one in Maine effectively died when it fell short of receiving the approval of two-thirds of the House and a Minnesota measure was not passed by lawmakers.
Source Agencies
