What happened
Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada and New York approved ballot measures on Election Day to protect abortion rights in their states, though a similar measure in Florida fell just short of the required 60% threshold and South Dakota rejected a slight expansion of abortion rights. Nebraskans approved one initiative to allow new abortion restrictions past the current 12-week threshold and rejected a competing measure to enshrine abortion rights to about 21 weeks.
Who said what
Florida is the first state since the overturning of Roe v. Wade "where abortion opponents prevailed on a ballot measure," The Associated Press said. More than 57% of voters supported the measure, but it wasn't enough to overcome the combination of the 60% bar and efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to use "state GOP funds" and the power of state government to sink the amendment.
Missouri is "positioned to be the first state where a vote will undo a ban that’s already in place," the AP said. Abortion rights groups found "unexpected popular support" for overturning the near-total ban, The New York Times said. Missouri "has an especially strong tradition of anti-abortion activism" and was the "first state to enact an abortion ban" after Roe fell.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Abortion rights groups said the Missouri measure would take effect 30 days after passage, though proponents still have to ask the courts to officially overturn the current ban. Nevada's constitutional amendment won't take force unless voters approve it again in 2026.
-
The UK’s ‘wallaby boom’Under the Radar The Australian marsupial has ‘colonised’ the Isle of Man and is now making regular appearances on the UK mainland
-
Fast food is no longer affordable to low-income AmericansThe explainer Cheap meals are getting farther out of reach
-
‘The money to fix this problem already exists’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Comey grand jury never saw final indictmentSpeed Read This ‘drove home just how slapdash’ the case is, said The New York Times
-
Summers out at Harvard, OpenAI amid Epstein furorSpeed Read Summers was part of a group being investigated by Harvard for Epstein ties
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
