Voters in seven of 10 states cast their ballots to enshrine protections for abortion rights in their state constitutions, once again affirming the public’s overwhelming disapproval of restrictions on abortion access.
In New York, Maryland, Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Missouri and Nevada, abortion rights measures won majorities Tuesday, NBC News projects. It is a resounding validation of last year’s election results, when ballot proposals to expand abortion rights won out — even in red states — and pro-abortion candidates edged out anti-abortion rivals in their races.
In Florida, although a majority of voters approved the state’s abortion rights proposal, the amendment still fell short of the 60% of the vote needed to pass. The right to an abortion was rejected by a majority of voters in South Dakota and Nebraska.
Abortion rights was among the highest-priority issues for voters this year, with the potential to affect House and Senate races, as well as the presidential race. In the run-up to the election, Republican lawmakers repeatedly tried to block abortion rights measures from appearing on state ballots or to invalidate petition signatures that put such proposals on the ballot. The GOP also spent millions on ads in an effort to dissuade voters from supporting abortion rights measures.
In that context, Tuesday’s results are not a huge surprise. Polls had shown that abortion rights ballot measures had resounding support among voters in their respective states, though, as NBC News reported in October, that has not always translated to favorable polling results for Democrats.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
CORRECTION (Nov. 6, 2024, 9:55 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the results of the ballot measure in Nebraska. A measure to expand abortion rights was defeated, while the one to restrict them passed; the pro-abortion rights measure did not receive majority support.