(Oregon Right to Life) — Pro-abortion activists this year have advanced ballot initiatives in ten states to enshrine a “right” to abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Individual states have become the new battleground for pro-abortion activists following the rollback of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, 2022. Thus far, four states have enshrined a “right” to abortion in their state constitutions. Now, voters from Arizona to Florida will decide whether or not to support amendments enshrining a “right to abortion” in their state constitutions. These initiatives use vague, overly broad language to effectively legalize abortion up to birth and do away with any meaningful abortion limits.
Most of these pro-abortion ballot measures are unfortunately anticipated to pass. But pro-life advocates are cautiously optimistic that at least one state – the newly “deep red” Florida – could buck the trend.
Arizona
Proposition 139, or the “Right to Abortion Initiative,” would make abortion a “fundamental right,” barring voters from making any laws protecting the unborn prior to viability (usually around 23–24 weeks gestation) without “a compelling state interest.”
- The amendment would also allow for abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy if, in “the good-faith judgment of a treating health care professional… an abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant individual.”
- Pro-life advocates point out that “health” exceptions are too broad and subjective, and effectively create a total right to abortion up to the moment of birth.
- Arizona currently limits abortions after 15 weeks gestation.
Colorado
Amendment 79, or the “Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative,” would create a blanket “right to abortion” throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
- The amended law would state that “[t]he 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.”
- Abortion is already legal in Colorado for any reason up to the moment of birth. The Boulder Abortion Clinic is a notorious abortion facility that openly advertises late term abortions.
Florida
Amendment 4, or the “Right to Abortion Initiative,” would legalize abortion without limit “before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
- Pro-life advocates note that the language of the amendment would authorize abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and would make Florida an abortion destination for women in the southern states – many of which now have strong pro-life laws.
- Florida law requires a 60% supermajority to pass a constitutional amendment, and the state’s pro-life Republican governor Ron DeSantis has come out vocally against the proposal.
- Advocates for the unborn are cautiously hopeful that the abortion lobby’s initiative could be defeated in the Sunshine State.
Maryland
Question 1, or the “Maryland Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment,” would add language creating a catch-all “right to reproductive freedom,” including “the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”
- Abortion is already legal up to viability in Maryland, and up to birth if a woman’s life or health is deemed to be in jeopardy or in cases of fetal disabilities.
Missouri
Amendment 3, or the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” would enshrine a
“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.”
- Since 2022, Missouri law has protected the unborn throughout pregnancy with exceptions for serious risks to the mother’s life or health.
Montana
CI-128, or the “Right to Abortion Initiative” would create “a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion” up until “viability.”
- After viability, abortions would be permitted “to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient,” with the Montana measure employing the same broad language that would result in the effective legalization of abortion up to birth.
- Abortion is already legal in Montana up to viability.
Nebraska
There are competing abortion-related measures on the ballot in Nebraska this year.
- Initiative 439, or the “Right to Abortion Initiative,” would enshrine a “fundamental right to abortion” in the state constitution “until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
- Initiative 434, or “Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester Amendment,” would add language to the state constitution guaranteeing that “unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters” with exceptions for rape, incest, or medical emergency.
- Abortion is currently legal in Nebraska through the first 12 weeks after fertilization.
- Each ballot initiative would need to overcome a 60% supermajority threshold to pass.
Nevada
Question 6, or the “Right to Abortion Initiative,” would create “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.”
- Abortion is currently legal in Nevada through 24 weeks gestation.
New York
Proposal 1, or the “Equal Protection of Law Amendment,” would amend the New York state constitution to add “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” to the list of criteria to be shielded from “discrimination” under the law.
- The measure would effectively legalize abortion up to the moment of birth.
- Abortion is currently legal in New York through 24 weeks gestation.
- The language of New York’s proposal closely resembles that of an initiative advanced by pro-abortion activists in Oregon.
- The Oregon proposal would amend Section 46, Article I of Oregon’s constitution to prohibit “discrimination” on the basis of “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and related health decisions…” Read more about the Oregon ballot initiative here.
South Dakota
Amendment G, or the “Right to Abortion Initiative,” would prohibit first trimester abortion limits, restrict the state’s ability to limit abortions in the second trimester, and allow the state to limit third trimester abortions “except when abortion is necessary, in the medical judgment of the woman’s physician, to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman.”
- Though framed differently, the measure contains the same vague “health” language of other ballot initiatives, effectively permitting abortion up until the moment of birth.
- Abortion is currently illegal throughout pregnancy in South Dakota with an exception for the life of the mother.
Oregon Right to Life believes in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. Abortion ends the life of a genetically distinct, growing human being. We oppose abortion at any point of gestation. In rare cases, a mother may have a life threatening condition in which medical procedures intended to treat the condition of the mother may result in the unintended death of her preborn baby. At the same time, ORTL recognizes that modern medical practice has and will continue to increase the ability to save both the life of the mother and the baby.
Additional Resources:
2024 Abortion Ballot Information
The Pro-Life Reply to: “Is Abortion Ever Medically Necessary?”
