Some liberals, who for decades had proclaimed the Supreme Court would never overturn Roe v. Wade because it was too good a wedge issue for turning out Republicans at election time, got a nasty surprise when the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling was handed down two years ago. Others of us who had been directly involved in reproductive rights battles were unsurprised. We had seen the handwriting on the wall long before Samuel Alito took up his pen to make women second-class citizens by taking away the right to control their own bodies.
We have a name for those without reproductive rights—livestock. In 14 states where abortion bans are nearly total, the only thing keeping that description (barely) in the hyperbole category is that the legislatures haven’t yet banned birth control or implemented a Handmaid system.
Whether surprised or unsurprised, many reproductive rights activists were deeply depressed at the Court’s devastating ruling because we knew what would be coming.
The “pro-life” movement—ludicrously named in a country that ranks worst among the world’s rich nations for maternal mortality—has over the years worked hard to strictly control women’s sexual and reproductive lives. That “childless cat ladies” trope isn’t just the misogynist view of an extremist vice presidential candidate, it’s practically doctrine among some forced-birther factions.
From the lengthy roster of personal and societal damage these authoritarians have caused, a couple of stand-outs are the disinformational anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers (many of them funded with state tax dollars), and the fact that fewer and fewer physicians actually know how to perform abortions as medical schools have retreated from teaching them.
But Dobbs and its fallout have catalyzed a nationwide uprising among voters that may well place us on a path that overturns much of the damage that forced-birthers have achieved in their half-century-long crusade against Roe and women’s autonomy. To be sure, the damage will take a very long time to fix. But the good news is that Americans in seven states have already cast ballots undermining the impact of Dobbs, and voters in 10 more states will have their chance in November to do likewise. Every state that codifies reproductive rights will make it more difficult for Congress to pass a national ban.
While the votes in those seven states have been greatly encouraging, nothing should be taken for granted in this weird election year. The pro-rights campaigns still need support. Below are excerpts from and links to information regarding the 10 referendums and initiatives, including where you can donate if you can afford to do so.
ARIZONA
Proposition 139, the Right to Abortion Initiative, a citizen initiative, would amend the state constitution by establishing a “fundamental right” to receive abortion care up until fetal viability, with exceptions after that if a health care professional decides it’s needed to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.” According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, viability generally occurs no sooner than 24 weeks gestation, with the fetal age calculated from the start of the mother’s last menstrual period. If the act passes, abortions after viability would only be permitted in medical emergencies.
Arizonans for Abortion Access are leading the campaign for the amendment. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the proposition passes, the following language will be added to the Arizona Constitution:
8.1. Fundamental right to abortion; definitions
A. Every individual has a fundamental right to abortion, and the state shall not enact, adopt or enforce any law, regulation, policy or practice that does any of the following:
1. Denies, restricts or interferes with that right before fetal viability unless justified by a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means.
2. Denies, restricts or interferes with an abortion after fetal viability that, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.
3. Penalizes any individual or entity for aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising the individual’s right to abortion as provided in this section.
B. For the purposes of this section:
1. “Compelling state interest” means a law, regulation, policy or practice that meets both of the following:
(a) Is enacted or adopted for the limited purpose of improving or maintaining the health of an individual seeking abortion care, consistent with accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine.
(b) Does not infringe on that individual’s autonomous decision making.
2. “Fetal viability” means the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.
3. “State” means this state, any agency of this state or any political subdivision of this state.
Current status of abortion in Arizona
Abortion is legal for up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona. In April, the state supreme court upheld a dormant 1864 territorial law banning most abortions in the state except to save the life of the mother. But the court stayed enforcement of the abortion ban. Meanwhile, the legislature In Arizona repealed the old law. Repeals do not come into effect until 90 days after the adjournment of the state legislature, which it did on June 15.
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COLORADO
Amendment 79, the Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative, would amend the Colorado Constitution with a simple, straightforward right to abortion that ought to be in every state constitution. It would also bar state and local governments from banning or impeding the right to abortion to be covered under health insurance plans. And it would repeal a 1984 law that voters approved by a margin of 50.4% to 49.6% banning use of public funds for abortions. Such constitutional amendments require a 55% supermajority vote for approval in Colorado.
Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom is leading the campaign in support of the initiative. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, the underlined text below will be added and struck-through text will be deleted from the constitution:
Section 32. Abortion.
The right to abortion is hereby recognized. Government shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of that right, including prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion.
...
Section 50. Public Funding of Abortion Forbidden.
No public funds shall be used by the State of Colorado, its agencies or political subdivisions to pay or otherwise reimburse, either directly or indirectly, any person, agency or facility for the performance of any induced abortion, PROVIDED HOWEVER, that the General Assembly, by specific bill, may authorize and appropriate funds to be used for those medical services necessary to prevent the death of either a pregnant woman or her unborn child under circumstances where every reasonable effort is made to preserve the life of each.
Current status of abortion in Colorado
The state is one of the 10 that do not restrict abortion after a particular point in pregnancy. It has long history of abortion battles at the ballot box, the first relaxed law having been passed in 1967. A provision of a now-repealed 1984 law prevented state health insurance from covering abortions for government employees and those on Medicaid. In 1998, Coloradans voted 55% to 45% to require parents to be notified if their minor child sought an abortion and voted 51% to 49% to reject a ban on the falsely named “partial-birth abortion.” They also defeated three measures in 2008, 2010, and 2014 that would have defined a person to include fetuses. In 2020, voters rejected a ban on abortions after 22 weeks.
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FLORIDA
Amendment 4, the Right to Abortion Initiative, an initiated constitutional amendment, would add to the Florida Constitution’s Declaration of Rights that no law can be passed restricting abortion before viability of the fetus. It would also keep in place a current constitutional provision that allows laws requiring parent notification before a minor can receive an abortion. A 60% supermajority vote is required for approval of the amendment.
Floridians Protecting Freedom are leading the campaign in support. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, this will be added to the state constitution:
Limiting government interference with abortion.— Except as provided in Article X, Section 22, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.
Current status of abortion in Florida
On April 1, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court ruling that the state’s constitution's right to privacy doesn’t include the right to abortion, overturning its own 1989 ruling that the right IS included. The recent ruling allows implementation of a limit of legal abortion to 15 weeks of gestation that the state legislation passed in 2022 before it was stayed by litigation that ultimately led to the April ruling. Previously, legal abortions were permitted up to 24 weeks. In 2023, the legislature passed the Heartbeat Protection Act banning abortion at six weeks, a time when many women don’t know they are pregnant and when there is only fetal cardiac activity. No at six weeks, there is no heartbeat since the heart isn’t fully formed then. The six-week ban took effect May 1.
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MARYLAND
Maryland Question 1, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, would add a new article to the state constitution's Declaration of Rights establishing a right to reproductive freedom, defined to include "the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one's own pregnancy."
Freedom in Reproduction— Maryland is leading the yes campaign. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, this text would be added to the declaration:
That every person, as a central component of an individual's rights to liberty and equality, has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one's own pregnancy. The state may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge the right unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.
Current status of abortion in Maryland
Abortion is legal in Maryland until viability and after viability if the woman's life or health is endangered or there is a fetal anomaly. In 1991, the legislature passed Senate Bill 162 saying "the state may not interfere with the decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy" before fetal viability. The next year, Marylanders approved a referendum upholding that law by a vote of 62% to 38%.
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MISSOURI
Missouri Amendment 3, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, an initiated constitutional amendment, would amend the Missouri Constitution to institutionalize reproductive freedom. This is defined as "the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions." The amendment also provides that the legislature may enact laws that regulate abortion after fetal viability.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom are leading the “yes” campaign. Here is where you can DONATE.
If it passes, amendment will mandate adding the following text:
Section 36. 1. This Section shall be known as "The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative."
2. The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.
3. The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the Government demonstrates that such action is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Any denial, interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid. For purposes of this Section, a governmental interest is compelling only if it is for the limited purpose and has the limited effect of improving or maintaining the health of a person seeking care, is consistent with widely accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that person's autonomous decision-making.
4. Notwithstanding subsection 3 of this Section, the general assembly may enact laws that regulate the provision of abortion after Fetal Viability provided that under no circumstance shall the Government deny, interfere with, delay, or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.
5. No person shall be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. Nor shall any person assisting a person in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with that person’s consent be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action for doing so.
6. The Government shall not discriminate against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care or assisting another person in doing so.
7. If any provision of this Section or the application thereof to anyone or to any circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of those provisions and the application of such provisions to others or other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
8. For purposes of this Section, the following terms mean: (1) "Fetal Viability". the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures. 2) "Government", a. the state of Missouri; or b. any municipality, city, town, village, township, district, authority. public subdivision or public corporation having the power to tax or regulate, or any portion of two or more such entities within the state of Missouri. [3]
Current status of abortion in Missouri
Abortion is banned with exceptions for saving the life or preventing a serious health risk to the pregnant woman. This law went into effect on June 24, 2022, immediately after the Dobbs ruling. Earlier state laws had required patients to undergo a mandatory 72-hour waiting period and receive counseling prior to an abortion. Minors seeking an abortion had to receive parental consent.
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MONTANA
Montana CI-128, the Right to Abortion Initiative, an initiated constitutional amendment, would provide a "right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion" and allow the state to regulate abortion after fetal viability, except when "medically indicated to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient." It would also prohibit the government from penalizing, prosecuting, or taking any adverse action against a person based on their pregnancy outcomes or against any person who aids or assists another person in obtaining an abortion.
Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights are leading the “yes” campaign. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, the following text will be added to the state constitution:
Section 36. Right to make decisions about pregnancy.
(1) There is a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion. This right shall not be denied or burdened unless justified by a compelling government interest achieved by the least restrictive means.
(2) The government may regulate the provision of abortion care after fetal viability provided that in no circumstance shall the government deny or burden access to an abortion that, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is medically indicated to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.
(3) The government shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against a person based on the person’s actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes. The government shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against a person for aiding or assisting another person in exercising their right to make and carry out decisions about their pregnancy with their voluntary consent.
(4) For purposes of this section:
(a) A government interest is “compelling” only if it clearly and convincingly addresses a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk to a pregnant patient and does not infringe on the patient’s autonomous decision making.
(b) “Fetal viability” means the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.
Current status of abortion in Montana
Abortion in Montana depends on the state constitution's provision of a right to privacy. In Armstrong v. State (1999), the state supreme court ruled that the provision includes a right to abortion until fetal viability. Parental consent is required for abortions performed on minors. State Medicaid funds can be used to pay for abortion services. In 2022, Montana voters rejected an amendment that would have considered infants born alive at any state of development as legal persons and required medical care for them. In 2023, the state legislature chose to ignore voters and passed a similar law with lesser penalties.
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NEBRASKA
The Nebraska Right to Abortion Initiative, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, would amend the Nebraska Constitution, adding the right to abortion until fetal viability.
Protect Our Rights is leading the yes campaign. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, it will add these words to the constitution:
All persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions. Fetal viability means the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient's treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus' sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.
Also on the ballot in Nebraska is an opposing measure, the Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester Amendment, which would amend the state constitution to prohibit abortions after the first trimester unless necessitated by a medical emergency or the pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or incest.
Current status of abortion in Nebraska
Abortion is banned after 12 weeks of pregnancy under law LB 574, which was signed in May 2023. Exceptions include saving the life of the mother, preventing serious risk to the physical health of the mother, and if the pregnancy was a result of rape and/or incest.
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NEW YORK
New York Proposal 1, the Equal Protection of Law Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, would add language to the state’s existing bill of rights to prohibit people from being denied rights for reasons of "ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability" or "sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy."
New Yorkers for Equal Rights are leading the “yes” campaign.
Here is where you can DONATE.
The Equal Rights Amendment now part of the New York State Constitution was adopted in 1938. It guarantees equal protection of the laws of the state and its subdivisions and prohibits discrimination because of race, color, creed, or religion. Twenty-nine state constitutions have in some form included a guarantee of equal rights either when they were originally written or in subsequent amendments.
If Prop 1 passes, the underlined text will be added and struck-through text will be deleted:
Text of Section 11: Equal Protection of Laws; Discrimination in Civil Rights Prohibited
A. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, or religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in his or her their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state pursuant to law.
B. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.
Current status of abortion in New York
Abortion is legal up to and including 24 weeks of pregnancy, which the state defines as viability, and after 24 weeks if a woman’s life or health is at risk, or if the fetus is not viable, as determined by medical professionals.
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NEVADA
Nevada Question 6, the Right to Abortion Initiative, an initiated constitutional amendment, would provide for state regulation of abortion after fetal viability except when needed "protect the life or health of the pregnant patient."
The Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom PAC are leading the “yes” campaign. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, this text will be added to the Nevada Constitution
Sec. 1. All individuals shall have a fundamental right to abortion performed or administered by a qualified health care practitioner until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions. The right established by this section shall not be denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means
Sec. 2. As used in this section: A "compelling state interest" means an interest which is limited exclusively to the state’s interest in protecting, maintaining, or improving the health of an individual who is seeking abortion care that is consistent with accepted clinical standards of practice; and
"Fetal viability" means the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient's treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus' sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.
Current status of abortion in Nevada
Abortion is legal under 24 weeks of pregnancy. In 1990, by a landslide margin, Nevada voters affirmed a legislatively passed law that legalized abortions up to 24 weeks and barred the legislature from altering or repealing it without again putting it on the ballot.
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SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment G, the Right to Abortion Initiative, an initiated constitutional amendment, establishes a right to abortion and would bar state regulation of abortion in the first trimester; allow regulation in the second trimester but only in ways related woman’s health in the second trimester; and allow state prohibition of abortion in third trimester except for life and health of the pregnant woman.
Dakotans for Health are leading the “yes” campaign. Here is where you can DONATE.
If the amendment passes, this language would be added to the state bill of rights:
Before the end of the first trimester, the State may not regulate a pregnant woman's abortion decision and its effectuation, which must be left to the judgment of the pregnant woman.
After the end of the first trimester and until the end of the second trimester, the State may 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.
After the end of the second trimester, the State may regulate or prohibit abortion, except when abortion is necessary, in the medical judgment of the woman's physician, to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman.
Current status of abortion in South Dakota?
South Dakota passed a law banning abortion, except to save the life of the mother, in 2005. But, with Roe still on the books, it wasn’t until the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs in 2002 that the law went into effect. As in Missouri, earlier state laws when abortions were still allowed had required patients to undergo mandatory 72-hour waiting periods and receive counseling before getting an abortion. Minors seeking an abortion had to receive parental consent. Last year the legislature passed a law that a woman who receives an unlawful abortion is not criminally liable.
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Sources include the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Guttmacher Institute, Feminist Majority Foundation, and various state secretaries of state.
