Abortion rights advocates win in four US states but lose in Florida

Voters in Missouri have cleared the way to undo one of the United States’ most restrictive abortion bans in one of four victories for abortion rights advocates.

But Florida defeated a similar constitutional amendment, leaving in place a law barring most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights amendments also passed in Colorado and Maryland. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.

A measure that allows more abortion restrictions was adopted in Nebraska, but the outcome of a competing measure to create a right to abortion was pending, leaving the on-the-ground fallout there uncertain.

Results were still pending in four other states with abortion measures on the ballot.

The Missouri and Florida results represent firsts in the abortion landscape, which underwent a seismic shift in 2022 when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a ruling that ended a nationwide right to abortion and cleared the way for bans to take effect in most Republican-controlled states.

Missouri is positioned to be the first state where a vote will undo a ban that is already in place. Currently, abortion is barred at all stages of pregnancy with an exception only when a medical emergency puts the woman’s life at risk. Under the amendment, politicians would be able to restrict abortions past the point of a foetus’s viability – usually considered after 21 weeks, although there is no exact defined timeframe.

But the ban, and other restrictive laws, are not automatically repealed. Advocates now have to ask courts to overturn laws to square with the new amendment.

“Today, Missourians made history and sent a clear message: decisions around pregnancy, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care are personal and private and should be left up to patients and their families, not politicians,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement.

Roughly half of Missouri’s voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,200 of the state’s voters. But only about one in 10 said abortion should be illegal in all cases; nearly four in 10 said abortion should be illegal in most cases.

Florida is the first state since Roe was overturned where abortion opponents prevailed on a ballot measure. Most voters supported the Florida measure, but it fell short of the required 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.

The result was a political win for governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican with a national profile, who had steered state Republican funds to the cause. His administration has weighed in, too, with a campaign against the measure, investigators questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and threats to TV stations that aired one commercial supporting it.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is “a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” praising Mr DeSantis for leading the charge against the measure.

The defeat makes permanent a shift in the southern abortion landscape that began when the state’s six-week ban took effect in May. That removed Florida as a destination for abortion for many women from nearby states with deeper bans and also led to far more women from the state travelling to obtain abortion. The nearest states with looser restrictions are North Carolina and Virginia – hundreds of miles away.

“The reality is because of Florida’s constitution a minority of Florida voters have decided Amendment 4 will not be adopted,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the Yes on 4 Campaign said while wiping away tears. “The reality is a majority of Floridians just voted to end Florida’s abortion ban.”

In Maryland, the abortion rights amendment is a legal change that will not make an immediate difference to abortion access in a state that already allows it.

The Colorado measure exceeded the 55% of support required to pass. Besides enshrining access, it also undoes an earlier amendment that barred using state and local government funding for abortion, opening the possibility of state Medicaid and government employee insurance plans covering care.

A New York equal rights law that abortion rights groups say will bolster abortion rights also passed. It does not contain the word “abortion” but rather bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy”.

Sasha Ahuja, campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights, called the result “a monumental victory for all New Yorkers” and a vote against opponents who she says used misleading parental rights and anti-trans messages to thwart the measure.