Abortion on the Ballot

Carrie Baker, Feminists Need to Know Ballot Measures

In nearly a dozen states, voters this fall will have a chance to protect abortion rights and advance equality for women.

In overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court declared, “The authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” But with rampant gerrymandering—greenlit by the Supreme Court—these “elected representatives” often do not fairly represent the people. This makes ballot initiatives a critically important avenue for ensuring women’s rights in states with conservative legislatures.

Since June 2022, when the Supreme Court made its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, seven states have voted on abortion-related ballot measures. Voters chose to protect abortion rights in all seven states.

• • In August 2022, voters in Kansas rejected an antiabortion measure by 59 to 41.
  • Then, in November 2022, voters overwhelmingly supported constitutional amendments to guarantee abortion rights in California (67 to 33), Michigan (57 to 43) and Vermont (77 to 23), while voters rejected antiabortion ballot referenda in Kentucky (52 to 48) and Montana (53 to 47).
  • In November 2023, Ohioans voted 57 to 43 in favor of a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights.

With a 100-percent success rate so far, reproductive rights activists are pushing for ballot measures in another 11 states this fall, with the added hope of turning out voters in battleground states like Arizona and Nevada. Abortion and women’s rights combined remains a top issue for women voters—especially young women—ranking above inflation and/or rising prices.

Missouri Rules Abortion Ballot Measure Invalid

A Missouri court late Friday moved toward striking a ballot measure in November that would ask voters whether to establish a right to abortion in the state Constitution.

Judge Christopher Limbaugh of Cole County Circuit Court sided with anti-abortion lawmakers and activists who said that the abortion rights groups that gathered signatures to sponsor the ballot measure had not sufficiently explained its potential ramifications on the petitions they asked voters to sign.

With the state scheduled to print ballots on Tuesday, the judge said he would wait until then to issue an injunction instructing the secretary of state to remove the measure that was certified last month. That will give the abortion rights groups a chance to appeal to a higher court.