Post-Roe efforts to protect the right to abortion are currently reaching their limits

WASHINGTON – Advocates made a massive push to protect abortion rights at the state level in Tuesday's election, but several notable defeats and a new Trump presidency have abortion rights advocates facing their biggest setbacks since the Supreme Court's Ro v. Wade fell.

After the most sweeping push for abortion rights since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision, the mixed results mean the country remains a patchwork of bans, restrictions and safe harbors for the procedure. Florida rejected a ballot initiative that would have lifted a six-week ban on abortion and extended access until a fetus is viable, about 24 weeks. South Dakota also rejected a ballot measure that would have protected abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Nebraska had two competing measures on the ballot: one to protect access to abortion until fetal viability and another to enshrine the state's current 12-week ban in the state constitution. The 12-week ban has prevailed.

In all, 10 states voted this year to codify abortion access in their constitutions, restoring Roe-era protections and, in some cases, repealing current bans. Abortion rights advocates have scored victories in other states: Significantly, Missouri rejected its current abortion ban. Arizonans and Montanans voted to enshrine the right to abortion until the fetus is viable. Voters in Democratic strongholds Colorado, Maryland and New York approved broader protections.

But this year's voting results represent a departure from abortion rights advocates' broad previous victories in the 2022 and 2023 elections and, with the GOP in control of Washington, could be the start of a new era in the post-Roe fight over abortion access. In the first election after Roe's overturn, five states voted in favor of abortion rights or rejected certain restrictions. Last year, Ohio also enacted protective measures.

“The opposition (to abortion rights) is becoming increasingly aggressive and highly funded,” said Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates. Florida's difficult 60 percent hurdle for passage is also a tactic that proponents expect other state legislatures will take to stave off future ballot measures.

But Farrell added: “The momentum from seven additional states is significant and we hope it will have some deterrent effect on newly elected federal lawmakers considering a statewide abortion ban.” At least one newly elected senator, Republican Bernie Moreno of Ohio , has called for a nationwide ban.

While Trump and other Republicans have moved away from nationwide abortion restrictions this election cycle, the new abortion restrictions could embolden those coming into office — particularly new lawmakers who defeated Democrats who had made abortion rights the centerpiece of their campaigns.

The results of the Florida measure are a “HUGE victory” for abortion opponents, Trump’s former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany wrote on the social platform X.

Most Americans believe abortion should be legal, especially in the first trimester, and the majority disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe. These numbers have led Republican candidates in particular to backtrack on previous promises, further restrict access to abortion, and even impose national restrictions.

But support for abortion rights is waning as Americans question access to the procedure in the second and third trimesters. Six state ballot measures asked voters to protect access to abortion until the fetus is viable, usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

In at least three states, Arizona, Florida and Montana, the vote parallels crucial races for control of the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida fended off longtime Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, giving Republicans a key victory in their bid to retake the Senate. Scott is among Republican senators vying to replace Mitch McConnell as Republican leader. Reproductive rights were a central part of Mucarsel-Powell's campaign, and Florida was one of the few states that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) hoped would keep the Senate in Democratic hands.

Democratic incumbent Jon Tester lost his Senate seat to Republican Tim Sheehy after he also strongly supported abortion rights. Sheehy said he was a staunch opponent of abortion and compared the procedure to murder.

The failed efforts in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota leave abortion rights advocates facing battles with state legislatures and governors. While voters may launch new ballot initiatives in future election cycles, lawmakers in several of these states are trying to make it harder to successfully introduce or win a measure to voters.

Trump's reelection raises “new and serious concerns” about the safety of reproductive health care, Daniel Grossman, an ob-gyn and director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, said in a statement. The election results are a “serious setback for science-based medical care in a country where many already live in the reproductive health desert.”

The broader ability to present reproductive rights policies directly to voters in other states is also shrinking: There are only three states left with mechanisms in their constitutions that allow voters to conduct campaigns through the legislature and governor can override. Two of these states, Arkansas and Oklahoma, have sweeping abortion bans. In the third state of North Dakota, a judge recently overturned the ban. In many states with complete abortion bans, there is no pathway for voter-proposed changes.