Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota voters protect unborn while abortion ballot measures pass in 7 other states

Voters in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota voted to reject abortion ballot measures that would have expanded abortion rights and placed both unborn babies and their mothers in further jeopardy.

In Florida, Amendment 4 would have overturned the state’s “heartbeat” law, which protects the unborn from abortion after six weeks. The measure, however, did not reach the required 60% threshold and ultimately failed. 

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis opposed Amendment 4 and announced its failure Tuesday evening on X: 

According to National Catholic Register, the failed ballot measure poses “a sharp rebuke to the pro-abortion lobby, which poured more than $100 million into Florida in an effort to enshrine abortion in the state constitution and negate … one of the most pro-life laws in the country.”  

While the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said it was “profoundly relieved at the defeat of Florida’s pro-abortion Amendment 4,” still about 57% of voters approved the measure that would have allowed abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. 

“Much work remains to open hearts and minds to the dignity and goodness of life in the womb and at every stage,” the bishops said. “We will continue to proclaim in our churches and in the public square the value of every human life and to highlight that there is a better way forward for women, families, and society than abortion.” 

Florida Physicians Against Amendment 4 also celebrated the ballot measure’s failure.  

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-life OB/GYN (AAPLOG) Action, praised the outcome: 

“Today’s victory in Florida is unprecedented – and should be viewed as the start of a revolution for women’s healthcare in America. After seven devastating losses in states across the nation, the people of Florida, led by the physicians who treat them, have resisted attempts to put politics ahead of compassionate and excellent care.” 

National pro-life leader Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director in Texas and founder of And Then There Were None, called Amendment 4’s defeat a “big win for the pro-life movement,” since it was “our first victory on a state abortion amendment since the Dobbs decision even though we were heavily outspent.” 

“Amendment 4 was extreme,” Johnson added. “Nothing is more heinous than tearing apart a baby in the womb, which the amendment would have allowed far into a pregnancy. I am grateful Florida will be a beacon of hope in the protection of innocent lives.” 

In South Dakota, where the current state prohibition on abortion – except when necessary to preserve the mother’s life – took effect again after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs, voters rejected Amendment G, a measure that would have expanded a right to abortion to within the first three months of pregnancy. 

Only about 40% of voters approved the measure, while nearly 60% voted against it. 

In Nebraska, voters backed an amendment that enshrined the state’s current prohibition on abortion in the second and third trimesters in its constitution. Approximately 55% of voters supported the Protect Women and Children Initiative, while nearly 45% rejected it. 

Nebraska’s competing ballot amendment, Initiative 439, which would have enshrined the right to abortion until fetal viability in the state constitution, was defeated, with more than 51% of voters rejecting it and about 49% in support of it. 

Despite these pro-life victories, voters in seven other states moved to protect abortion rights and amend their state constitutions to include them. 

Voters in Arizona, which had protected unborn babies until 15 weeks, approved Prop 139, an amendment that will now allow abortions up to viability and even later, if a woman’s life or health is perceived to be in danger. 

Cathi Herrod of Center for Arizona Policy, which promotes and defends life, marriage and family, and religious freedom, described the approval of Prop 139 as another “heartbreaking loss.” 

“As long as the pro-abortion industry marches toward profit over lives, the pro-life community will stand in the way and stand up for women and babies,” Herrod said in a statement. 

Amendment 3 in Missouri passed with about 52% of voters backing the measure and 48% rejecting it, an outcome that will amend the state constitution to guarantee a right to abortion until fetal viability and beyond that if the mother’s life or her physical or mental health is perceived to be at risk.  

Missouri’s amendment is a victory for pro-abortion activists in both its upending of a near-total prohibition on abortion as well as its inclusion of a woman’s “mental health” as an exception for an abortion up until birth – a factor known to be easily manipulated by late-term abortionists. 

In Montana, CI-128 was approved by more than 57% of voters, thereby amending the state constitution to guarantee the right to abortion until fetal viability, or beyond that if the woman’s life or health is at risk. About 43% of Montana voters rejected the measure. 

In Nevada, Colorado, and Maryland, abortion rights legislation has already been passed, but voters further approved measures that would enshrine rights to the procedure in their state constitutions. 

In Nevada, where abortion is already legal until the 24th week of pregnancy, voters have a two-step process to approve an amendment to their state constitution that would enshrine abortion rights until an unborn baby is viable, or even later if a woman’s life or health is perceived to be at risk. 

Approximately 63% of Nevada voters backed Question 6 and about 37% rejected it yesterday, but they will be required to approve it once again in 2026 in order to complete the process of amending the state constitution. 

More than 61% of Colorado voters approved Amendment 79, while nearly 39% rejected it, an outcome that will enshrine in the state constitution an already extreme law that allows for abortion at any stage of pregnancy. 

In Maryland, where abortion is already legal until fetal viability, about 74% of voters approved Question 1 to enshrine reproductive freedom in the state constitution, while only about 26% rejected the measure. 

Voters in New York easily approved amending their state constitution to include anti-discrimination protections for “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” as well as for sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. 

Prop 1 was approved by about 62% of voters, with only 39% rejecting it.