Four Years After Dobbs, Abortion Is Back on the Ballot in a Big Way

Four states are considering ballot initiatives related to reproductive rights this year, elevating the stakes of an already critical election.

Four years after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion with the Dobbs decision, access to the procedure remains a critical matter for voters across the country. Abortion rights advocates are hoping that abortion-related ballot measures in four states will inspire voters to turn out in the crucial midterm elections—and support candidates in favor of protecting abortion access.

The four states considering such ballot measures are Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia. The initiatives in Nevada and Virginia would not change existing law but would amend the constitution to enshrine abortion protections. The Idaho ballot measure would reverse the state’s strict abortion ban. Meanwhile, the Missouri initiative is attempting to undo protections approved by voters as a constitutional amendment in 2024.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 17 states have put forth abortion-related ballot measures. In 2022 and 2023, every state that voted on these measures protected access to abortion. Voters in seven out of the 10 states considering abortion-related ballot measures in 2024 supported protecting abortion rights. But even the failure of ballot measures did not necessarily translate to lack of support: In Florida, an initiative to protect abortion rights received 57 percent of the vote, which did not clear the state’s 60 percent threshold for adding a state constitutional amendment.

“We’ve seen time and time again in states across the country that voters do turn out en masse to support abortion rights ballot measures. They have shown us that when they have a chance to change their state laws and support abortion access, they will take it,” said Sarah Standiford, national campaigns director at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Control of Congress is up for grabs in this year’s elections. Democrats are favored to take the House of Representatives and have a shot at winning the Senate, as well. (The latest analysis from the Cook Political Report says that Democrats retaking the lower chamber is a “done deal” and assesses the chance of seizing the upper chamber as “very realistic.”)........

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