Florida’s Abortion-Rights Ballot Measure Wins a Majority, Still Falls Short
Abortion ballot measures’ undefeated streak at the polls post-Dobbs ended Tuesday night, as Florida’s Amendment 4 fell shy of the necessary threshold. But this Election Day, there are abortion-related referendums on the ballot in ten states. And it’s also the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade: While Vice-President Kamala Harris has made abortion a centerpiece of her campaign, Donald Trump has tried to get as much distance as he can from the issue given the direct role he played in the end of the constitutional right to an abortion. So what did voters decide? Keep reading to find out how each ballot measure performed; we’ll continue updating this story as results become available.
Florida’s Amendment 4
Amendment 4 had the highest threshold to meet among all ballot measures in this election at 60 percent, and despite winning a majority of votes — even more votes than Governor Ron DeSantis earned during his 2022 reelection campaign! — it fell short of passing. That means Florida’s current six-week ban, which prohibits abortion care before most people know they are pregnant, will remain in place for now.
Back in September, I spent a weekend shadowing pro-choice canvassers in Florida’s bellwether Pinellas County. The Yes on 4 campaign had a steep hill to climb to convince 60 percent of voters to support the referendum as many voters didn’t even know the amendment was on the ballot. The DeSantis administration also devoted considerable state and legal resources to defeating it.
Maryland’s Question 1
As expected, Maryland voted decisively to protect abortion rights. Question 1 is projected to pass by the New York Times and the Associated Press. Maryland currently allows abortions up until viability, and the measure will codify the right “to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy” in the state constitution.
New York’s Proposal 1
New York is also projected to pass Proposal 1, according to the New York Times and NBC News. The state currently allows abortions until viability; Proposal 1 will codify this status quo in the state constitution, in addition to adding protections for “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
Colorado’s Amendment 79
Coloradans voted to pass Amendment 79, according to projections by the New York Times and the Associated Press. Although there are virtually no restrictions in the state, Amendment 79 will formally codify abortion rights in the Colorado constitution and repeal a 1984 law that prohibits using public health-insurance plans to pay for abortion care.
Missouri’s Amendment 3
Missouri is projected to pass Amendment 3, the New York Times and the Associated Press project, paving the way to becoming the first state to reverse a near-total post-Dobbs abortion ban. (That said, no abortion clinics remain in the state.) The measure will codify the right to “reproductive freedom” in the state’s constitution, allowing for abortion care up until viability once again. Back in 2022, Missouri was the first state to ban abortion care, doing so within minutes of the Supreme Court issuing its Dobbs decision; the law makes an exception only for cases of limited medical emergencies.
“This amendment is not earth-shattering. It is really just putting health care back where it belongs,” Dr. Jennifer Smith, an OB/GYN in St. Louis who campaigned for the measure, told me in September. “In every other aspect of health care, we have these conversations with patients and make these decisions without government interference. All we’re asking is to have women in our state have that same basic freedom.”