In the 2024 election, 10 states voted on ballot measures aimed at protecting abortion rights, including one state (Nebraska) whose ballot also included a competing measure curtailing abortion rights. Voters in seven states voted to expand abortion access, while the ballot measures to expand abortion access failed in Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska. More details about the different state ballot measures are available at this KFF Ballot Tracker.
About half of voters in each of these states said the outcome of the abortion ballot initiative was “very important” to them. In all 10 states, more than half of those who voted in favor of protecting abortion access said the outcome of the measure was “very important” to them. In most states, proponents of abortion access were more likely than opponents to say the outcome was very important.
Voters in South Dakota and Nebraska voted against expanding abortion access in their states. In both of those states, a majority of voters on both sides of the ballot measure said the outcome of the measure was “very important” to them – suggesting that both sides of the argument were equally motivated by the outcome of these ballot measures. In Florida, the ballot measure failed to reach the 60% threshold needed in order to pass. About six in ten Florida voters who voted in favor of expanding abortion access said the outcome of the ballot measure was important to them compared to about half of voters who voted against the ballot measure in the state who said the same.
In each of the states where abortion was on the ballot in 2024, about one in four voters said abortion was the single most important issue to their vote, similar to the share of voters nationally who said so. About four in ten voters in these states said abortion policy had a “major impact” on whether they voted, and more than half said it had a major impact on which candidates they supported this election.
Former President Trump won key electoral victories in four states where voters also chose to expand or protect abortion access. Across the ten states with abortion ballot measures, Trump garnered small but important shares of votes from those who voted in favor of ballot measures protecting abortion access, including support from about three in ten of those who voted in favor of abortion access in Missouri and in the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona.
Arizona and Nevada: Key Swing States with Abortion Ballot Initiatives
Arizona and Nevada are two battleground states where former President Trump won at the same time as a majority of voters passed ballot measures expanding abortion access.
Arizona's Proposition 139 proposed enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution, allowing abortion until fetal viability or at any stage in cases where the pregnant person’s health or life is at risk. The ballot measure will codify protections similar to those under Roe v. Wade before it was overturned. Arizona law currently bans abortions after 15 weeks. This proposition was supported by a majority of voters in the state across age, gender, race, and ethnicity. The vast majority of Democratic Arizona voters and those who voted for Kamala Harris voted Yes on the proposition. Most Republicans and those who voted for Donald Trump voted against the proposition, yet about four in ten in both groups voted in favor of the measure.
Nevada’s ballot featured the Right to Abortion Initiative, Question 6, which sought to affirm a constitutional right to abortion up to fetal viability and after viability in cases where the pregnant person's life or health is endangered. The measure passed receiving support from over nine in ten Nevada Democrats and those who voted for Harris, as well as nearly half of Republicans and those who voted for Trump.
Ballot measures have to pass in two successive general elections in Nevada. This measure will have to appear on the ballot again in 2026 before the proposed amendment is added to the Nevada constitution.
Many Arizona and Nevada Voters Voted to Expand Access to Abortion, While Supporting Republican Candidates for Senate and President
About a quarter of voters in Arizona and Nevada who voted “Yes” on their state’s ballot measures to protect access to abortion voted for Republican candidates for senate and Trump for president. The vast majority of those who voted “No” on these measures voted for Republican candidates as well.
Spotlight on Florida
Amendment 4, the "Florida Right to Abortion Initiative," which failed to meet the 60% vote threshold required to pass, would have amended the state constitution to enshrine the right to abortion until the point of fetal viability, or to protect the mother's health. Currently, Florida has a 6-week abortion ban. The passage of Amendment 4 in Florida would have provided a legal pathway to abortion for women in the region currently considered an abortion desert.
While the ballot measure failed to reach 60% support, large majorities of independent and Democratic voters in the state supported it, as did a majority of both men and women and voters across race and ethnicity. While most Republicans and Trump voters opposed the measure, over four in ten Republicans and about a third of those who voted for Trump voted in favor of the proposition.
Spotlight on Nebraska
Nebraska is the only state in this election to have two competing abortion-related ballot measures. One would have established a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant person at any time during pregnancy, while the second measure, which passed, amended the constitution to ban abortions past the first trimester, except in medical emergencies or when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. Currently, abortions are legal in Nebraska up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Support for the two ballot measures was largely divided along partisan lines, with nine in ten Democrats supporting the Right to Abortion Initiative and about three-quarters of Republicans supporting the measure restricting abortion access. Among independent voters, a larger share supported the measure expanding abortion access than the one restricting abortion access.