WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion access up to fetal viability. Though there’s no defined time frame for viability, doctors say it’s sometime after 21 weeks. It’s a major win for abortion-rights supporters in the presidential battleground state who sought to expand access beyond 15 weeks. The citizen-led initiative far outpaced the opposition campaign in fundraising. Earlier this year, the Arizona Supreme Court allowed the enforcement of an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, but then the Legislature quickly repealed it. The Associated Press declared the measure approved at 3:31 a.m. EST Wednesday.
الوسم: amendment
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AP Race Call: Nevada voters approve constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights
WASHINGTON (AP) — A ballot question to enshrine Nevada’s abortion rights in the state constitution received its first nod of approval from voters. Voters must also approve the ballot question in 2026 in order to amend the state constitution. The political action committee Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom organized the ballot initiative and gathered enough signatures to put the question before voters. Although a 1990 state law makes abortion available up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, supporters in Nevada and elsewhere have been pressing to strengthen abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Associated Press declared that the question was approved at 3:21 a.m. EST Wednesday.
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AP Race Call: Nebraska voters approve constitutional amendment enshrining 12-week abortion ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nebraska voters approved a ballot measure to write the state’s current 12-week abortion ban into the state constitution. It also allows for a stricter ban to be imposed. The abortion restriction measure was one of two competing abortion measures to appear on the ballot. The other measure would enshrine in the Nebraska Constitution the right to have an abortion until viability, or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman. Though there’s no defined time frame for viability, doctors say it’s sometime after 21 weeks. Nebraska is the first state to carry competing abortion amendments on the same ballot since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, which ended a national right to abortion. The Associated Press declared the initiative was approved at 1:02 a.m. EST Wednesday.
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AP Race Call: Missouri voters approve constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights
WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri voters approved a measure on Tuesday that enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution and replaces a near-total ban on the procedure. The measure guarantees a person’s right to get an abortion and make other reproductive health decisions. It opens the door to legal challenges of a ban on most abortions that took effect immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The measure made the ballot after an intense legal fight led by anti-abortion advocates who sought to prevent a vote.
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Florida votes against amendment enshrining abortion rights into state constitution | US elections 2024
Florida voters defeated a measure to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution, a devastating blow for advocates who had hoped to roll back the state’s six-week abortion ban and continue their now-broken streak of ballot-measure victories.
A total of 10 states voted on abortion-related ballot initiatives on Tuesday. Results are forthcoming in seven states, four of which could overturn post-Roe v Wade abortion bans and restore access. New York and Maryland passed ballot measures to expand their states’ protections for abortion and cement their status as abortion havens.
Given that abortion is one of the top issues in the 2024 election, Democrats had hoped these measures would boost turnout among their base. But while many of the outstanding measures appear on track to pass, including in swing states like Nevada and Arizona, polls suggest a chunk of voters are effectively splitting their votes by supporting both abortion rights and Republicans.
Out of all the abortion-related measures, the Florida initiative – known as amendment 4 – was long considered the most difficult to pass. Unlike other measures, which only require a simple majority – or, in the case of Colorado, 55% of the vote – to pass, the Florida measure needed to garner 60% of the vote. At the time it was called by the Associated Press, the Florida measure had amassed a clear majority, with 57% of the vote.
The Florida result is a bitter pill for abortion rights supporters, shattering a string of successes at the ballot box. Advocates have won abortion-related ballot measures in seven states since Roe was overturned.
After the US supreme court overturned Roe in 2022, Florida became a refuge for people fleeing the abortion bans that now blanket the rest of the US south, before its six-week ban took effect in May of this year.
Had the Florida measure passed on Tuesday, it would have protected the right to abortion up until fetal viability, or about 24 weeks into pregnancy.
In the weeks leading up to election day, Florida Republicans alarmed civil rights and voting rights groups by unleashing a wave of attacks on the measure. Law enforcement officials investigated people who signed a petition to get the measure onto the ballot, while the state’s agency for healthcare administration put up a webpage attacking the amendment. The health department also sent cease-and-desist letters to local TV stations that aired an advertisement supporting the measure, prompting the measure’s organizers to sue.
“Florida’s deadly abortion ban is out of line with the values of our state,” said Lauren Brenzel, manager of the campaign for the amendment, Yes on 4 Florida, in a statement. “Florida voters sent that message loud and clear today, and despite the fact that only a minority of voters voted to retain the abortion ban our extremist government will exploit the situation to deny its own constituents the right to decide on our bodily autonomy.”
Read more of the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage