Ballot Backfire?

I’ll be writing about a few more random thoughts about specific issues in this election in the coming days. My fuller election analysis is here. Today I want to highlight the success and failure of the nine abortion access ballot initiatives.

There were nine states that had ballot initiatives to enshrine abortion access in their state constitutions — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota. In every one of those states except South Dakota, those ballot initiatives received over 50% of the vote, most with support of 55% of voters or greater, with the exception of Missouri which was significantly closer. In Florida, however, the amendment failed only because it fell just short of the 60% required to become law.

These victories in seven out of nine states, as well as the strong showing in Florida, continue the now long list of victories for abortion rights in the wake of the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Enshrining abortion access in these state constitutions is an uncontestable good, but we will see if the protection that now offers will survive a GOP push for a national abortion ban or a strict enforcement of the Comstock Act by the Trump administration. Similarly, voters in Missouri and Montana, where Republicans control all the branches of government, will need to be aware of how these amendments might be interpreted and constricted by the courts and legislature, much as Missouri’s Good Government amendment which passed in 2018 was neutered by its courts and its legislature.