Democrats and their abortion giant allies want to legalize killing unborn babies throughout all nine months of gestation in every state. A majority of U.S. adults reject that position, but that fact hasn’t stopped the ballot measure battle that plagued Ohio last year from infiltrating several other states, including those controlled by Republicans, during the 2024 election cycle.
On the Ballot
Florida
Florida voters will be asked come November 5 to weigh in on a state constitutional amendment declaring, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
As with other abortion measures led by out-of-state activists, the path to the Sunshine State’s ballot measure involved deception and, in this case, fraudulent signatures. The amendment itself is laced with loose terms like “viability,” which can easily be exploited to ensure abortion at any point in gestation and includes language that does away with parental consent.
If the proposed amendment passes this fall, medical professionals in Florida could deem abortion at any stage of pregnancy necessary for a woman’s “health,” physical, emotional, or mental. If it fails, Florida’s heartbeat law will stand.
Maryland
Maryland is already one of the most pro-abortion states in the U.S., but a ballot measure up for vote on Election Day 2024 could make the state’s sweeping abortion provisions more permanent and prevent any limits from being enacted in the future.
The amendment in question seeks to enshrine an undefined “right to reproductive freedom” in the Declaration of Rights portion of the state constitution because it claims abortion is “a central component of an individual’s rights to liberty and equality.”
The proposal, which is strongly supported by abortion giant Planned Parenthood, also says the state “may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge the right unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
New York
New York, similar to Maryland, already has unlimited abortion as long as a medical professional deems the life or health — physical or mental — of the mother at risk. Abortion activists are asking New Yorkers to further enshrine abortion in the state by ratifying an Equal Rights Amendment that would effectively prevent the government from enacting limits on baby-killing in the future.
The proposed amendment also includes broad language that could stop the state from banning transgender mutilation and chemical castration for children and would infringe on parents’ rights.
“Whether through Albany sloppiness — or pernicious ideological intent — Proposition One would strip the legal rights of parents with school-age children to know about crucially important things happening with their kids, including controversial gender transformation procedures,” the Coalition to Protect Kids told Fox News Digital.
Could Be on the Ballot
Arizona
Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris and outside abortion groups such as ACLU and Planned Parenthood, flocked to the Grand Canyon State this year to promote a measure that, if added to the 2024 ballot and passed, adds a “fundamental right to abortion” to the state constitution.
The sweeping language not only leaves the definition of “viability” up to the subjective judgment of a health care professional but also prevents the state from passing or enforcing laws punishing abortionists for killing babies.
Organizers have until July 3 to collect 383,923 valid signatures but already claim they hit the threshold necessary to add the amendment to the November ballot.
Arkansas
A majority of Americans say they believe abortion should be limited to 15 weeks. Abortion activists in Arkansas, however, are scrambling before July 5 to collect signatures for a ballot measure that would prohibit the state from regulating abortion until after 18 weeks gestation.
The proposed constitutional amendment also carves out exceptions, regardless of state statute, for abortion beyond 18 weeks for fatal fetal anomalies and the undefined “health” of the woman.
Colorado
Colorado currently offers unlimited abortion through all nine months of pregnancy to anyone who wants it, but that isn’t good enough for the activists leading the national constitutional amendment abortion campaign.
Organizers say they have enough verified signatures to add a constitutional amendment to the 2024 ballot that would not only hamper future efforts to limit abortion but also permit “abortion to be a covered service under health insurance plans.”
Missouri
Abortion in Missouri is banned except in cases of medical emergencies. A ballot measure introduced by the ill-named Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, however, seeks to enshrine abortion in the state constitution by adding a “right to reproductive freedom” that permits anyone to “make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care.”
Activists have until May 5 to collect the 171,500 valid signatures required to add the proposed amendment to the November 2024 ballot.
Montana
To retaliate against Montana’s Republican-controlled legislature for trying to pass pro-life protections, abortion activists introduced a ballot measure that seeks to amend the state constitution to “expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.”
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen tried to invalidate the measure under Article XIV, Section 11 of the Montana constitution because he said it “logrolls multiple distinct political choices into a single initiative.” The state Supreme Court, however, overruled his findings and rewrote the language.
Abortion activists have until the June 21 deadline to collect signatures.
Nebraska
Abortion activists in Nebraska want a constitutional amendment that would “provide all persons the fundamental right to abortion without interference from the state” to be added to the 2024 ballot. The campaign, however, faces challenges from two other ballot measures that seek to protect unborn babies and mothers from the harms of abortion throughout pregnancy.
Organizers of all petitions must turn in their collected signatures for certification by July 5.
Nevada
Nevadans will know in July whether an effort to enshrine a “fundamental right to abortion” in the state constitution will make it on the November 2024 ballot.
Currently, abortion in Nevada is permitted at any gestation as long as “the physician has reasonable cause to believe an abortion is necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person.” The proposed amendment would further shield abortion in the state from regulation or limit.
Even if the amendment makes the 2024 ballot and passes, it must undergo another vote in a subsequent general election to achieve full ratification.
South Dakota
Pro-life protections in South Dakota ban abortion except to save the life of the mother. A ballot measure that activists say has met the state’s May 7 threshold for signatures, however, hopes to change that.
The proposed amendment language declares the state should not have any say over abortions in the first trimester. Instead, it claims South Dakota should only be allowed to enforce abortion limits that “are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman” in the second trimester and “to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman” in the third trimester.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.
