Widespread support for abortion rights defied partisan labels in last week’s election, but several of the ballot measures that voters approved may face legal and legislative challenges. Supporters worry that federal efforts could eventually override the state measures, reports Stateline. Voters in seven states — including deep-red Missouri and Montana — chose to protect or expand access to abortion through ballot initiatives.
“This won’t be the last time Missourians vote on so-called ‘reproductive rights,’” said Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who opposed the ballot measure. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that vote happens.”
In Missouri and Arizona, the ballot measures will expand abortion access beyond what state laws allow. Though those constitutional amendments are set to go into effect in the coming weeks, abortion is unlikely to become immediately accessible in those states as abortion-rights advocates go to court to overturn existing laws. Anti-abortion groups and their legislative allies have worked to undermine abortion protections through laws and court challenges based on concepts such as fetal personhood, parental rights and fetal viability. Such efforts could limit the impact of the new ballot measures. Supporters of the Missouri measure anticipate continued opposition. Mallory Schwartz of Abortion Action Missouri said “anti-abortion, anti-democracy politicians are going to try to stomp us out.” Some abortion-rights supporters worry that without a federal constitutional right to abortion, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 2022, the new state-level protections are vulnerable to federal moves that could override them. Nourbese Flint of the abortion-rights group All* In Action Fund, said the Trump administration could restrict access even in states that have abortion-rights measures on the books.
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