Voters in South Dakota and Nebraska joined Floridians Tuesday night in rejecting ballot initiatives that would have enshrined abortion up to birth into their state constitutions. Meanwhile, West Virginians approved a life-affirming initiative to ban physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Shortly after the announcement that Florida’s pro-abortion Amendment 4 had been defeated, voters in South Dakota and Nebraska rejected similar pro-abortion proposals in their own states.
READ: In 10 States, Ballot Initiatives Could Legalize Abortion Up to Birth This Election
“Voters in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota saw through the money and lies of abortion industry-backed efforts to radically change their state constitutions,” said National Right to Life president Carol Tobias in a Wednesday press release.
“Leaders such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Nebraska U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts boldly led the fight for life and never backed down,” she said. We thank our state affiliates Florida Right to Life, Nebraska Right to Life, South Dakota Right to Life, and our other affiliates fighting these measures, for their heroic efforts.”
In West Virginia, voters approved a measure to add language to the state constitution ensuring that “[n]o person, physician, or health care provider in the State of West Virginia shall participate in the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person.”
Referencing the West Virginia proposal, Tobias thanked NRLC affiliate West Virginians for Life “for leading the charge to bring about this life-saving measure.”
“We celebrate the lives that will be saved with the defeat of pro-abortion ballot measures in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a Wednesday press release.
“The pro-life states of Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota have disrupted abortion activists’ track record, showing the path forward is to fight for life following the examples of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Dusty Johnson,” Dannenfelser said.
In the press release, Dannenfelser praised the pro-life state leaders for traveling, fundraising, and leading advertising campaigns to urge voters to vote against the radical pro-abortion proposals.
“If the playing field is evened by pro-life elected officials fighting back, life wins,” she said. “Abortion activists’ lies do not prevail when Republicans devote money and messaging to the truth…The pro-life campaigns in these states had the resources to stay on offense to expose the radical implications of all-trimester abortion and the elimination of parental rights,” she added.
The pro-life victories against the initiatives in Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska, mark the first time since the 2022 rollback of Roe v. Wade that voters have rejected statewide abortion amendments. Shortly after Roe was overturned, four states approved similar ballot initiatives to enshrine a “right” to abortion in their state constitutions.
The victories are also a significant indicator of pro-life sentiment in the country, and prove that pro-life advocates can defeat the radical, well-funded ballot initiatives advanced by the abortion lobby.
Pro-life advocates have expressed hope and enthusiasm in response to the defeat of the three abortion amendments. But the pro-life message did not prevail in all states where constitutional amendments were proposed.
On Tuesday night, voters in five states with broad pre-existing pro-choice laws (Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, and New York) approved pro-abortion 2024 ballot initiatives in their states. Voters in Missouri and Arizona also greenlit the abortion initiatives introduced in their states.
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.
