Results: Voters in 5 states had abortion access on the ballot. All signaled overwhelming support.
- Midterm voters signaled overwhelming support for abortion rights.
- Five states had abortion-related initiatives on their ballot.
The 2022 midterm elections were the first national elections to be conducted following the US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, leading five states to place abortion-related initiatives on their ballot.
Voters in all five states — California, Michigan, Montana, Kentucky, and Vermont — signaled overwhelming support for abortion rights.
California
California will enshrine abortion rights into its state constitution after voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1.
The state legislature put the measure on the ballot — which will amend the state's constitution to say that the state cannot take away a person's right to abortion or contraception and will not interfere with reproductive freedoms — around the time of the Supreme Court's ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson.
State law will still allow for late-term abortions in special cases and require people who perform these medical procedures to be licensed.
Michigan
Michigan will codify the right to an abortion in its state constitution after well over half of voters voted "yes" on Proposal 3, which will amend the state's constitution to add an individual right to reproductive freedom, including abortion.
Also known as the "Reproductive Freedom for All" measure, Proposal 3 establishes a right to reproductive healthcare, including pregnancy, contraception, sterilization, abortion, and miscarriage management.
It protects those who perform reproductive-related procedures and care from prosecution and would nullify any state laws that restrict access to this care.
Proposal 3 still upholds a state law that restricts abortions past the point of fetal viability, between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation, with exceptions to the health of the patient.
Montana
Montana voters said "no" to Legislative Referendum 131, which if passed, would have added a statute that protects "born-alive" infants.
The statute would have established any infant born alive as a legal person and required healthcare providers to try to preserve the life of the infant.
LR-131 defined a "born-alive" infant as one who has been removed from a womb via abortion, natural or induced labor, or C-section and "breathes, has a beating heart, or has definite movement of voluntary muscles" at any stage of development. The measure, if passed, would have charged medical staff with a $50,000 penalty and/or 20 years of imprisonment if they fail to provide care to keep the infant alive and report the born-alive infant.
Kentucky
Kentucky voters struck down an amendment that would have added language to the state constitution to clarify that the right to an abortion is not protected under the state constitution.
A majority "yes" on Amendment 2 would have added the line "to protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion" to the state constitution.
Abortion was banned in Kentucky, except in cases of endangerment to life, after legislators enacted a trigger law following the Supreme Court's ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson.
Currently, there are three lawsuits challenging the abortion law in Kentucky, each of which asserts that the state's constitution provides a right to abortions. If Amendment 3 had passed, it would have curtailed this argument in these lawsuits.
Vermont
More than three-fourths of voters in Vermont said "yes" to Vermont's Proposal 5, which will amend the state's constitution to add language that protects reproductive freedom, including abortion.
Currently, the state of Vermont has no restriction on abortion access and allows for abortions throughout pregnancy.