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The Status of Abortion-related State Ballot Initiatives Since Dobbs

Last updated on November 4, 2026

Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade, voters in 19 states have weighed in on ballot measures regarding abortion– some more than once. In November 2026, voters in 4 states (Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia) weighed in on statutes and constitutional amendments affecting the legal status of abortion in their state. Voters in Virginia and Nevada affirmed the right to abortion in their state constitutions. Voters in Missouri rejected a constitutional amendment that would have repealed the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” passed by voters in 2024, banned abortion except if there is a medical emergency, fatal fetal anomaly, or the pregnancy is a result of rape and incest (and the abortion is performed before 12 weeks LMP), and prohibited minors from accessing gender-affirming care. A measure in Idaho that would have created a statute that guaranteed the right to abortion until fetal viability, or after fetal viability when the patient experiences a medical emergency, failed.

In 2024, 10 states voted on abortion measures that sought to affirm that the state constitution protects the right to abortion. Nebraska voted on two measures: one seeking to protect abortion and the other seeking to ban abortion after the first trimester. Measures protecting abortion rights succeeded in 7 states — Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York — and failed in 3 — Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Voters passed a measure amending the Nebraska state constitution prohibiting abortions after the first trimester.  

Prior to the 2024 election, the side favoring access to abortion prevailed in every state that voted on abortion-related ballot measures. In 2022 and 2023, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Vermont voters passed measures amending the state constitution to protect the right to abortion. Measures seeking to curtail the right to abortion in Kentucky, Kansas, and Montana failed.  

There are two ways a measure may be placed on the ballot: through citizen initiative or legislative referral. 

  • Legislatively-referred  measures are introduced and approved by lawmakers before they appear on the ballot for citizens to vote on. 
  • Citizen-initiated  measures are written by citizen groups and are placed on the ballot if they receive enough signatures.  

Not all states allow for citizen-initiated ballot measures. For more background information on abortion related ballot initiatives, please see our brief Addressing Abortion Access through State Ballot Initiatives. 

For more information on confirmed and potential abortion-related ballot measures in the 2026 election, please see our brief Abortion on the 2026 Ballot: The Evolving Landscape of State Abortion Initiatives. 

Status of Abortion-Related Ballot Measures Since Dobbs, as of November 4, 2026 (Table)

Status of Abortion-Related Ballot Measures Since Dobbs, as of November 4, 2026

*Because there were two initiatives in Nebraska, the winning initiative had to pass 3 bars: 1) greater than 50% of voters on that initiative must vote in favor of that initiative; 2) at least 35% of the total voters in the election must vote in favor of that initiative; and 3) the initiative must receive a greater number of votes than the competing initiative.

1 The Statute defines medical emergency as a physical medical condition, based on the physician's good faith medical judgment, that complicates the physical medical condition of a pregnant patient as to warrant an abortion to protect a pregnant person's life, or for which a delay will create a serious impairment of a major bodily function or organ of the pregnant person.
2 The Amendment defines a medical emergency as "a condition that, based on reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate termination of her pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant woman or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. A medical emergency shall include, but not be limited to, an ectopic pregnancy at any point following the diagnosis of such and treatment for a miscarriage."
3 Ballot measures have to pass in two successive general elections in Nevada. This measure was passed in 2024 and was passed again in 2026 before it was added to the Nevada constitution.

KFF analysis of ballot measures and Ballotpedia, <a href=https://ballotpedia.org/Abortion_policy_ballot_measures"> Abortion policy ballot measures </a>

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