Voters in 3 states set to decide key abortion measures this November

Continuing the post-Dobbs ballot battles over abortion policy and pro-life laws, voters in Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia are set to consider abortion-related constitutional amendments on the November ballot, according to a July 7 Ballotpedia News report.

Missouri’s pro-life measure

Missouri voters are set to consider Amendment 3, a pro-life measure that would repeal the state’s 2024 amendment that enshrined a broad “right to reproductive freedom” in the state’s constitution. It would ban most abortions while allowing exceptions in cases of “medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest,” with abortions in cases of rape or incest limited to no later than 12 weeks’ gestation. 

The measure would also require parental consent for minors seeking abortions and ban “gender transition” surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty-blocking drugs for minors. 

Nevada’s pro-abortion measure

In Nevada, voters will consider Question 6 for the second time. The citizen-initiated measure would amend the state constitution to create a “right” to abortion until fetal viability — generally considered to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy — and after viability when a qualified health care practitioner determines the abortion is necessary to protect the mother’s life or health. Nevada law requires initiated constitutional amendments to pass in two consecutive general elections; Question 6 passed with 64.4% support in 2024, according to Ballotpedia News.

Virginia’s pro-abortion measure

Virginia voters will decide on the state’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment, a legislature-referred measure that would establish a state constitutional “right to reproductive freedom,” including the legal ability to have an abortion. 

The measure faces two ongoing legal challenges. One lawsuit argues that House Clerk Paul Nardo failed to properly transmit the amendment to circuit court clerks, as required under state law, according to the Virginia Mercury. A separate Tazewell County lawsuit challenges the ballot language as misleading, arguing that voters are not being fully informed about the amendment’s potential effects on parental consent requirements, later-term abortion rules, and abortion facility regulations.

Other measures could reach the ballot in Idaho and Colorado

Additional abortion-related measures could also reach voters in Idaho and Colorado. In Idaho, a proposed pro-abortion measure would allow abortion up to fetal viability, generally considered to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy, and after viability in cases of medical emergency or fatal fetal diagnosis. In Colorado, a proposed pro-life measure would repeal the state’s “right to abortion.” Neither measure has been certified for the ballot.

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