By Renaud Février
Published on November 6, 2024 at 8:30 a.m.updated on November 6, 2024 at 11:38 a.m.
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Data According to current results, eight states have voted “yes” in referendums in favor of abortion.
The issue of abortion has been one of the strongest themes of this American presidential campaign. A subject through which Kamala Harris has long hoped to make a difference, by winning the women's vote. But also on which the voters of ten American states were called upon to decide concretely, via local referendums, in addition to the election of the next tenant of the White House, of the entire House of Representatives and a third of Senate seats. Here are the first results of these consultations.
- Florida: referendum failure
The amendment aimed to reintroduce the possibility of carrying out an abortion until the viability of the fetus (around 24 weeks of pregnancy), instead of only six weeks currently.
It had to receive 60% “yes” to be adopted, the highest threshold of the ten American states where referendums on the issue were organized on Tuesday, November 5. The “yes” was the majority, but this famous threshold was not reached. According to local media, the vote in favor of this amendment would have received 57% of the votes.
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Defenders of the measure hoped that Florida, surrounded by states that are very restrictive on the issue of abortion, could once again become a refuge for women in the southeast of the United States.
- Arizona: referendum victory
The amendment reinstates the possibility of carrying out an abortion until the viability of the fetus (around 24 weeks of pregnancy) instead of the current 15 weeks. Proposition 139 will constitutionalize abortion at the state level. Arizona is a key state for the outcome of the presidential election, and Democrats hope that the referendum will have encouraged their voters to go to the polls and vote for their candidate Kamala Harris. The presidential counting is not yet finished in the state.
- New York: referendum victory
This is not really a surprise in a state won by Democrats. Voters in New York State said “yes” to the proposition that enshrines the right to abortion by adding an anti-discrimination text to the State Constitution. Abortion is already legal in New York, but this amendment makes any future restrictions more difficult.
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- Maryland: referendum victory
Same situation in Maryland: abortion is already legal, but this right will now be protected by the Constitution. State voters approved the amendment that makes it extremely difficult for lawmakers to pass a law in the future that could limit abortion without violating the state Constitution.
- Colorado: referendum victory
Colorado voters also approved enshrining existing abortion laws into the Constitution. The referendum exceeded the 55% support required to pass. Abortion was already legal there, but the measure now allows Medicaid and other government programs to cover medical costs.
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- Missouri: referendum victory
Voters in Missouri, a state in the center of the country, approved a constitutional amendment to legalize abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. However, the State had been, after the revocation by the Supreme Court of the United States of the Roe v. Wade in 2022, the first state to ban abortion except in medical emergencies.
- Nevada: referendum victory
Nevada voters were asked to approve a constitutional amendment to make access to abortion a “fundamental right”. Abortion is already legal in this state, but pro-abortion activists worry about a national ban if the Republicans win Congress.
- Nebraska: referendum victory (pro-abortion)
In this state, abortion was until now only legal up to 12 weeks of pregnancy (except in cases of rape, incest and when the mother's life is threatened). With the victory of the referendum, the deadline is extended until the viability of the fetus.
Note, in this state, that a second referendum on abortion was at stake. It aims, on the contrary, to prohibit abortion after the first trimester, except in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency . Its result is not known but the “no” is currently in the lead.
- Montana: referendum victory
In this state, as in Maryland and Colorado, abortion is legal. But the “yes” victory in the referendum will allow this right to be enshrined in the Montana Constitution.
- South Dakota: referendum failure
In this State, where all abortion is today prohibited, except in cases of vital risk to the mother, the referendum proposed establishing a constitutional right to abortion, during the first trimester of pregnancy.