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In which states could abortion be on the ballot in 2024?

Organizers in Arizona and Nebraska submitted more than enough signatures Wednesday to put abortion-related questions to voters on the November ballot, provided enough of them are deemed valid.

This brings the number of states in which election officials check signatures on abortion bills to five.

They are already on the ballot in five other states, as well as in a sixth, where a change in the law would prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy outcome.”

A campaign in another state is trying to collect enough signatures by Friday to put the bill on the ballot there as well.

The Supreme Court of the United States the nationwide right to abortion abolished with a ruling from 2022 that National push to have voters decide.

Since the ruling, most Republican-led states have new abortion restrictions in place, including 14 that ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders protecting access to abortion.

In all seven states where abortion issues have been on the ballot since 2022 – California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont – voters have sided with abortion rights advocates.

What will be on the ballot for 2024?

COLORADO

Colorado's top election official confirmed in May that a bill to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, including requiring that they be covered by Medicaid and private health insurers, was on the ballot for this fall's election.

Supporters said they had collected more than 225,000 signatures, nearly twice the 124,000-plus signatures required.

To change the state constitution, the support of 55% of voters is required.

Supporters of a competing bill, an abortion ban, have not submitted signatures and the bill will not go to voters.

In Colorado, abortion is legal at any stage of pregnancy.

FLORIDA

The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a ballot proposal to legalize abortion up until viability could go on the ballot, despite a lawsuit filed by the state's Attorney General, Ashley Moody, who argued that there were differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed proposal were not properly defined.

Supporters collected Nearly one million signatures to put an amendment to the state constitution to legalize abortion pending its implementation on the ballot, exceeding the nearly 892,000 signatures required.

For the bill to come into force, 60 percent of voters would have to approve it.

Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy under a law which came into force on 1 May.

MARYLAND

Voters in Maryland Also being asked this year is to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. The state already protects abortion rights through state law, and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1. Abortion is legal in Maryland until it is feasible.

NEVADA

The Secretary of State of Nevada' The House Clerk's Office announced in June that a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution met all the requirements to be put before voters in November.

The amendment aims to ensure access to abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy – or even later, in order to protect the health of the pregnant woman. This access is already guaranteed by a law from 1990.

To change the constitution, voters would have to approve it in both 2024 and 2026.

SOUTH DAKOTA

The voters of South Dakota will decide this autumn on a measure that would prohibit any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow the state to regulate the pregnant woman's abortion decision and its implementation in the second trimester “only in a manner that is reasonably proportionate to the pregnant woman's physical health.” An abortion ban would be permissible in the third trimester as long as it provided for exceptions to protect the woman's life and health.

The state’s top election official announced on May 16 that about 85% of more than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the popular initiative are valid and exceed the required 35,017 signatures.

Opponents have filed a lawsuit to try to take the initiative off the ballot.

What is up for election in New York?

Although the right to abortion is not explicitly protected, a reproductive rights issue is on the ballot in New York. The measure would Prevent discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” along with sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and disability. Abortion is currently legal in New York until the fetus is viable.

The question was on the ballot, but was removed in May by a judge who ruled The legislator has missed a procedural step when they put it there. Court of Appeal reinstated it in June.

What other issues could be on the ballot in 2024 besides abortion?

ARIZONA

Supporters of abortion rights over 823,000 signatures submitted on Wednesday to put an abortion-free bill before voters in November. That's more than twice the number needed.

However, election officials still have to verify the signatures.

Under this measure, the state could prohibit abortion only when the fetus is viable, but later abortions would be allowed to protect the physical or mental health of the woman.

In Arizona, abortion is currently legal in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. An Arizona Supreme Court ruling in April said enforcement of an already existing, nearly total ban could soon begin. The governor has since signed a bill into law. Repeal of this law. However, it is expected to remain in force for some time.

ARKANSAS

Supporters of a change in the law that would allow abortion in many cases must collect nearly 91,000 signatures by Friday to get it on the November 5 ballot.

They said on Wednesday that they had two days left to distribute the petitions and that they were still about 5,800 petitions short.

The measure would ban laws that prohibit abortions in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and allow abortions later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman's health or life, or when the fetus would likely not survive birth. Because the proposal would ban abortions beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy, it is not supported by Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state currently bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.

MISSOURI

Abortion rights advocates in Missouri submitted more than 380,000 signatures — more than twice the 171,000 required — for a measure asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion until it is feasible. Local election officials have until July 30 to verify the signatures, then it will be up to the secretary of state to declare whether there are enough signatures.

A group of moderate Republicans has abandoned efforts this year to an alternative amendment After that, abortions would have been allowed up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, with few exceptions after that.

In Missouri, abortion is currently prohibited at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.

MONTANA

Abortion rights advocates in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the government from denying the right to an abortion before the pregnancy is viable or when it is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.

After a legal battle over the wording on the ballot, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the wording that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures were certified. Sponsors had to submit about 60,000 by June 21. They submitted nearly twice that many – about 117,000. Counties have until July 19 to certify them, and the secretary of state would have until Aug. 22 to decide whether the signature goes on the ballot.

Following a 1999 ruling by the Montana Supreme Court, abortion is legal in Montana until viability.

NEBRASKA

Competing abortion policies could be available to voters in November after supporters of both parties said Wednesday they had submitted far more signatures than the 123,000 needed to be placed on the ballot.

A proposal on the ballot in other states would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution until it is actually available. Supporters of the proposal say they have submitted more than 207,000 signatures.

The other side would incorporate the existing law into the constitution, that abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Supporters said they submitted more than 205,000 signatures.

The organizers of a third attempt did not submit any petitions: this would have defined embryos as human beings and thus banned abortions at all stages of pregnancy.

Where have the voting efforts not been successful?

Some attempts to restrict or ban abortion have also failed to make it to the ballot. In Wisconsin, the House of Representatives passed a measure asking voters to Ban abortion after 14 weeksbut the legislative session ended without a vote in the state Senate.

Likewise, Iowa lawmakers ended their session without passing a bill asking voters to determine that there is no constitutional right to abortion. Pennsylvania lawmakers had previously sought a similar amendment, but it is not expected to make it onto the ballot this year.

A Louisiana Measure to anchor the right to abortion in the state constitution failed in committee, one in Maine practically failed when it did not receive the approval of two-thirds of the House of Representatives and a Minnesota measure was not passed not even by the legislators.

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This story has been updated to correct the number of signatures Arkansas organizers say they still need, as well as the number of signatures submitted for Montana's proposal.

Anna Harden

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