Abortion It’s on the ballot Tuesday in more ways than one. Nationally, Kamala Harris’s campaign has increasingly highlighted the issue, claiming that Donald Trump’s re-election would lead to a “national abortion ban.”

And voters in 10 states They had the opportunity to amend state constitutions to protect the right to abortion. Here are the results.

The Harris campaign’s claims turned out to be patently false. Trump repeatedly He said he would veto A national abortion ban if Congress passes it.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DY, requested It was stated that Project 2025’s set of policy recommendations calls for a national ban on abortion, although nothing is said about this in the 920-page volume.

Abortion became the center of attention in the long queue of celebrities endorsed Harris.

Trump’s victoryThe fact that it won a higher percentage of the popular vote than in 2020 or 2016 showed that this strategy had failed.

The picture is different at the state level, where the abortion issue is on the ballot. Inside Roe v. wadeIn 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court invented an abortion right that prevented states from enacting almost any law intended to protect unborn children.

12 state courts over the next few decades interpreted There are provisions in their constitutions to protect this right. The Supreme Court then overturned Roe in 2022, leaving state charters as the sole source of constitutional protection.

In the 2022 elections, voters in California, Michigan and Vermont added language to their state constitutions protecting a broad right to “reproductive freedom.” This step was superficial in California and Vermont, where the two states’ supreme courts had already interpreted the constitution to protect this right.

But this was a dramatic change in Michigan, where the new language covers the vague category of “decisions regarding all matters relating to pregnancy.” Ohio voters passed a similar constitutional amendment in 2023.

This brings us to the following point: 2024 vote. Even if the line on banning abortion remains the same, voters who draw that line in state constitutions are making a more meaningful statement than legislators.

With this in mind, voters in six states were asked whether state constitutions should prohibit any restrictions on abortion when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother before “viability” or even after viability. The measure was passed in five of those states: Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Nevada.

Viability is a subjective term that indicates when an unborn child can survive outside the womb; It is generally accepted to be around 24 weeks. Data Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 99% of abortions occur before viability.

Colorado, Montana, and Nevada had already drawn a legislative line on applicability; Arizona had done this At 15 weeks. Although shifting the limit of permissible abortions from 15 weeks to viability seems significant, CDC data shows that the 15-week ban still allows 94% of abortions.

The most dramatic change occurred in Missouri, where abortion is legally prohibited from conception. A slim majority of voters (52%) approved repealing this ban in the state Constitution and allowing abortions until the expiration date.

In Florida, 57% of voters supported Amendment 4, which also prohibits any limitation of abortion before the feasibility period. But Florida is one of the few states that requires 60 percent of voters to amend its constitution. The measure would pass under a simple majority threshold, a dramatic change from the current six-week legislative ban.

Maryland currently does not have a gestational limit on abortion, so voters’ adoption of a constitutional provision protecting “reproductive freedom” did not change the overall legality of abortion there. Similarly, New York voters passed a broad constitutional provision protecting women from unequal treatment based on “reproductive health and autonomy.” This change effectively legalizes 100% of abortions in New York state instead of 99%.

Voters in Nebraska approved a ballot measure that would only allow abortions in the first trimester, although Nebraska already allows abortions in the first trimester. Nebraskans rejected a separate proposal to protect the “fundamental right to abortion pending fetal viability.”

But the margin in both votes was narrow: 55% voted to limit abortion to the first trimester, but 49% voted to allow 99% of abortions to occur before viability.

Finally 60% South Dakota voters He rejected adding abortion protections to the state Constitution. this offer It could have established different standards regarding restrictions on abortion at different stages of pregnancy; This is the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. It is a complex approach imposed in the Wade case but abandoned as impracticable.

These results on state ballot measures give abortion advocates reason to celebrate. For example, the percentage of voters supporting the measure on Election Day beat pre-election polls by four points in Arizona, five points in Nebraska, six points in Colorado, and 11 points in Florida. The result matched polls in Maryland and Missouri.

Even in Montana, where polls overstate support, voters still approved the abortion measure. Even in states with pro-life legislatures, such as Missouri and Nebraska, voters favored protecting the right to abortion during all or part of a pregnancy in the constitution, the state’s basic law.

pro-life movement He has always known that his goal should be to achieve a life-affirming culture. These results show how much work still needs to be done.