Every State Facing Deceptive, Unlimited Abortion Ballot Measures This November

 By Jordan Boyd, originally published May 3, 2024, The Federalist

Eleven states could see abortion through all nine months of pregnancy enshrined in their state constitutions this November.

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.