Get Out the Vote for Reproductive Rights!
Get Out the Vote for Reproductive Rights!
With election day quickly approaching, we call attention to ten states with reproductive rights on the ballot. Reproductive rights have become a key issue in the 2024 election cycle, and since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, we have heard dangerous rhetoric suggesting that letting the “states decide” is the best way to determine how to regulate abortion rights and reproductive care.
Not only does this approach undermine the basic human rights of millions of women and birthing people, but it also has a disproportionate impact on Black immigrant and African-American communities that already face systemic barriers to healthcare and disparities in reproductive health outcomes. Letting the “states decide” exacerbates inequality, where access to care is now determined by geography and financial means, forcing those without resources to either travel across state lines or forgo care altogether.
Reproductive rights include the right to choose an abortion but also encompasses the right to access reproductive care and protection from sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Forcing childbirth in a country where Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications is a clear example of systematic racism in America.
Black immigrant women and birthing people, especially those who are undocumented, are further impacted by being less likely to seek abortion services due to fear of deportation or legal consequences. States are increasingly choosing to criminalize reproductive care, like the use of Alabama’s chemical endangerment law that allows for the arrest and prosecution of those who use abortion pills. The fear of interacting with law enforcement or healthcare systems, combined with language barriers, limits access to safe reproductive care for many Black immigrant women and birthing people.
Reproductive freedom is non-negotiable. Access to reproductive care must be ensured for all, regardless of where someone lives or their economic and immigration statuses. We must fight for Black communities by spreading critical information on the connection between abortion bans to limit reproductive rights and adverse health outcomes.
The reversal of Roe v. Wade has created a dangerous path forward, where the absence of federal protections requires us to develop an advocacy framework that includes (1) challenging disparities in access to healthcare and (2) supporting ballot measures that enshrine reproductive rights in state constitutions across the country, and (3) ensuring that the reproductive health of Black immigrant women and birthing people are a priority at the federal level.
The following list comprises the ten states in which reproductive rights are up for a vote this election cycle:
State Ballot Measures on Reproductive Rights [1]
- Florida
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- Ballot Issue: Adding language to the state constitution that would protect abortion access that says: “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.”
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- New York
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- Ballot Issue: Amending the state’s equal rights amendment to include protections against discrimination due to pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare. Please note that the word “abortion” is not included in the ballot question.
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- Maryland
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- Ballot Issue: Enshrining the right to an abortion and “reproductive freedom” in the state’s constitution.
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- Arizona
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- Ballot Issue: Amending the state constitution to protect the right to abortion up to fetal viability, or about the 24th week of pregnancy.
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- Nebraska
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- Ballot Issue: Nebraska is the only state that will have two competing ballot initiatives this November. We support the first one that would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution until fetal viability or later to protect the health of the mother. Please note that the second one would enshrine the current 12-week abortion ban into the state’s constitution with some exceptions including incest, rape and to save the life of the pregnant woman.
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- Nevada
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- Ballot Issue: Enshrining access to abortion in the state’s constitution. Please note that in order for the protection to be added to the constitution, the ballot question will need to be approved by voters twice: once in 2024 and once in 2026.
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- Missouri
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- Ballot Issue: Reversing the current ban by enshrining the right to abortion in Missouri until fetal viability in the state’s constitution.
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- Montana
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- Ballot Issue: Explicitly creating a constitutional right to abortion.
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- Colorado
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- Ballot Issue: Enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution and allowing the use of public funds for abortion.
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- South Dakota
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- Ballot Issue: Establishing a constitutional right to abortion and preventing the state from regulating “a pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its effectuation” in the first trimester. It would allow second-trimester regulations “only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman”.