Abortion rights ballot measures to go before Missouri and Arizona voters in November

Petitions to put abortion rights on the ballot in Missouri and Arizona were officially approved this week, adding to a growing list of states where reproductive rights will be before voters in November.

Both ballot measures would amend their respective state's constitutions to enshrine the right to an abortion after the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022, prompting state-by-state action on the issue.

In Missouri, supporters of abortion rights have been pushing to amend the state constitution to allow abortion in the state, where a near-total ban is currently in place. To qualify for the ballot, roughly 170,000 signatures from six out of eight congressional districts were required. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certified that the petition had enough support to appear on the ballot. 

The ballot measure will present Missouri voters with an opportunity to amend the constitution to establish a right to "make and carry out decisions" about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, while removing the state's current abortion restrictions. It would allow abortion to be restricted or banned after fetal viability is reached with exceptions related to the health of the patient.

Tori Schafer, the director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said voting "yes" on the ballot measure will end the state's abortion restrictions and "restore our freedom and dignity to make decisions around pregnancy and abortion."

"Right now, Missouri has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country, and it only took politicians a matter of minutes to enforce the ban when Roe fell," Schafer said, adding that the restrictions have had "devastating consequences." "Missourians have the power to change this. This November, we have the opportunity to make our voices heard by passing Amendment 3."

Sue Liebel, Midwestern regional director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the Missouri ballot measure "would end thousands of lives."

"Missouri would become as radical as California in allowing horrific late-term abortions and forcing the taxpayer to fund them," Liebel said.

On Monday, Arizona joined the list of states adding abortion to the ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment, if approved, would enshrine a right to an abortion in the state's constitution and would also prohibit punishment against anyone who assists a person in getting an abortion.

The Arizona measure required 383,923 signatures. Organizers said in July that they submitted an unprecedented 823,685 signatures amid controversy surrounding the possibility of a near-total ban stemming from an 1864 law that only allowed exceptions to save the mother's life. Abortion is currently restricted in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy. 

"Thousands of local volunteers, and dozens of organizations focused on reproductive rights, healthcare, faith communities, and veterans rights, not to mention millions of Arizonans have been looking forward to this day for more than a year," Chris Love, a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access, said in a statement released on Monday.

Abortion related measures will also appear on ballots in Florida, Colorado, South Dakota, New York, Maryland and Nevada. Similar efforts are under way in other states as well, but they have not yet been officially approved. 

The push for statewide abortion protections follows the 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision that upended federal protections for the procedure, leading to a patchwork of access across the nation. Since then, Democrats have coalesced around the issue, making abortion rights central to campaigns up and down the ballot. And in previous years, abortion measures have appeared to drive voters to the ballot box, giving Democrats an edge in key races.