Florida and two other states vote against abortion rights, defying the trend.

Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota rejected the referendums, giving anti-abortion activists their first wins since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022. On Tuesday, voters approved the majority of the referendums extending the right to an abortion in U.S. states.
According to Edison Research’s prediction on Tuesday, a plan to change Florida’s state constitution to protect abortion rights did not receive the 60% of votes required to pass.

Two conflicting ballot proposals were presented to voters in Nebraska. According to the Associated Press, they backed one that enshrined the state’s current 12-week ban, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the mother’s life. According to the AP, they also rejected a bill that would have amended the state constitution to include the freedom to have abortions. According to the Associated Press, South Dakota voters rejected a proposed amendment that would have made abortion rights guaranteed under the state constitution. With very few exceptions, abortion is still prohibited in South Dakota.

Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, New York, Maryland, and Montana would all pass abortion rights legislation, according to Edison’s predictions. Voters in a state that forbids abortion completely for the first time passed a constitutional amendment that will protect abortion rights through fetal viability, making the Missouri ballot issue a significant victory. Abortion rights activists now anticipate winning a court battle to restore abortion rights within months, even though the measure’s adoption won’t immediately nullify the state’s ban.

Prior to Tuesday, seven states had taken the abortion rights debate straight to the electorate after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the historic Roe v. Wade decision from 1973. All seven elections had been won by pro-abortion campaigns. According to Edison Research, 57% of voters accepted the Florida initiative after 95% of the votes were tabulated. A prohibition on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy that went into effect in May will remain in place because it did not reach the 60% threshold.

There are not many exceptions to Florida’s ban beyond the sixth week. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America president and anti-abortion activist Marjorie Dannenfelser referred to Florida’s outcome as “a momentous victory.” Her group also complimented officials like Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for the results in both states. 57% still constituted a majority of voters, according to Anna Hochkammer, director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, which supported that state’s legislation.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, had attempted to garner support for the ballot proposals on Tuesday that would change state constitutions to guarantee the right to an abortion.
The Republican Party, under former President Donald Trump, has been held accountable by Democrats for the abortion restrictions that several of the legislation attempted to overturn. Following the Supreme Court’s gutting of the federal right to abortion by a conservative majority nominated by Trump, more than a dozen states outlawed abortion in all or most circumstances.