Organizers in Arizona and Nebraska submitted good enough signatures Wednesday to place abortion-related inquiries to voters on the November ballot, provided enough of them are deemed valid.
This brings the variety of states wherein election officials check signatures on abortion bills to 5.
They are already on the ballot in five other states, in addition to in a sixth, where a change within the law would prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy outcome.”
A campaign in one other state is attempting to collect enough signatures by Friday to place the bill on the ballot there as well.
In a 2022 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion, sparking a nationwide movement to let voters determine.
Since the ruling, most Republican-led states have recent 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 likely be on the ballot for 2024?
COLORADO
Colorado's top election official confirmed in May that a bill to enshrine abortion protections within the state structure, including requiring that they be covered by Medicaid and personal health insurers, was on the ballot for this fall's election.
Supporters said that they had collected greater than 225,000 signatures, nearly twice the 124,000-plus signatures required.
To change the state structure, the support of 55% of voters is required.
Supporters of a competing bill, an abortion ban, haven’t submitted signatures and the bill won’t 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 have been differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms within the proposed proposal weren’t properly defined.
Supporters collected nearly 1,000,000 signatures to place an amendment to the state structure to legalize abortion until it becomes feasible on the ballot, exceeding the nearly 892,000 signatures required.
For the bill to come back into force, 60 percent of voters would should approve it.
Under a law that went into effect on May 1, abortions are currently illegal in Florida after the primary six weeks of pregnancy.
MARYLAND
Maryland voters can even be asked this yr to enshrine abortion rights within the state structure. The state already protects abortion rights through state law, and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1. Abortion is legal in Maryland until it is possible.
NEVADA
The Nevada Secretary of State's office announced in June that a ballot query to enshrine abortion rights within the state structure met all requirements to be put before voters in November.
The amendment goals to make sure access to abortion through the first 24 weeks of pregnancy – and even later, with a purpose to protect the health of the pregnant woman. This access is already guaranteed by a law from 1990.
To change the structure, voters would should approve it in each 2024 and 2026.
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota voters will vote this fall on a measure that might ban any restrictions on abortion in the primary trimester. It would allow the state within the second trimester to “regulate the pregnant woman's abortion decision and its execution only in a manner that is reasonably proportionate to the pregnant woman's physical health.” An abortion ban could be permitted within the third trimester, so long as it provides exceptions to guard the girl's life and health.
The state's top election official announced on May 16 that about 85% of the greater than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the ballot initiative were valid, greater than the required 35,017 signatures.
Opponents have filed suit to attempt to remove the initiative from the ballot.
What is up for election in New York?
Although the correct to abortion is just not explicitly protected, a reproductive rights query is on the ballot in New York. The measure would prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care,” in addition to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. Abortion is currently legal in New York until the fetus is viable.
The query was on the ballot but was removed in May by a judge who found that lawmakers had ignored a procedural step in adding it. An appeals court reinstated it in June.
What other issues could possibly be on the ballot in 2024 besides abortion?
ARIZONA
Abortion rights supporters submitted greater than 823,000 signatures Wednesday to place an abortion freedom bill on the November ballot, twice the number needed.
However, election officials still should confirm the signatures.
Under this measure, the state could prohibit abortion only when the fetus is viable, but later abortions could be allowed to guard the physical or mental health of the girl.
In Arizona, abortion is currently legal in the primary 15 weeks of pregnancy. An Arizona Supreme Court ruling in April said enforcement of a near-total ban already in place could soon begin. The governor has since signed a bill repealing that law, however it is predicted to stay in effect for a while.
ARKANSAS
Supporters of a change within the law that might allow abortion in lots of cases must collect nearly 91,000 signatures by Friday to get it on the November 5 ballot.
They said on Wednesday that 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 primary 20 weeks of pregnancy and permit abortions later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the girl's health or life, or when the fetus would likely not survive birth. Because the proposal would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, it is just not supported by Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which incorporates Arkansas. The state currently bans abortions in any respect stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
MISSOURI
Abortion rights advocates in Missouri submitted greater than 380,000 signatures — greater than twice the 171,000 required — for a measure asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion until it is possible. Local election officials have until July 30 to confirm the signatures, then it should be as much as the secretary of state to declare whether there are enough signatures.
A gaggle of moderate Republicans has abandoned efforts this yr to pass another constitutional amendment that might have allowed abortions as much as 12 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions after that.
In Missouri, abortion is currently prohibited in any respect stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions.
MONTANA
Abortion rights advocates in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that might prohibit the federal government from denying the correct to an abortion before the pregnancy is viable or when it’s crucial to guard 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 might appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures were certified. Sponsors needed 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 determine 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 laws could possibly be on the ballot in November after supporters of each bills said Wednesday that they had submitted way more signatures than the 123,000 needed to place them on the ballot.
A proposal on the ballot in other states would enshrine the correct to abortion within the state structure until it is definitely available. Supporters of the proposal say they’ve submitted greater than 207,000 signatures.
The other option could be to jot down the present law, which prohibits abortion after the primary 12 weeks of pregnancy with some exceptions, into the structure. Proponents say they’ve submitted greater than 205,000 signatures.
The organizers of a 3rd attempt didn’t submit any petitions: this might have defined embryos as human beings and thus banned abortions in any respect stages of pregnancy.
Where have the voting efforts not been successful?
Some attempts to limit or ban abortion have also failed within the vote. In Wisconsin, the House of Representatives passed a bill asking voters to ban abortion after the 14th week of pregnancy. However, the legislative session ended with out a vote within the Senate.
Likewise, Iowa lawmakers ended their session without passing a bill asking voters to find out that there isn’t a constitutional right to abortion. Pennsylvania lawmakers had previously sought an analogous amendment, however it is just not expected to make it onto the ballot this yr.
A bill in Louisiana that might have enshrined abortion rights within the state structure failed in committee; one other in Maine failed when it didn’t receive two-thirds approval within the House of Representatives, and a bill in Minnesota also didn’t pass the legislature.
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