Abortion rights strengthened in several US states, but not in Florida

Photo: Mike Carlson Associated Press A pro-abortion woman stands outside a polling station in Florida on Nov. 5, 2024.

Lucie Aubourg – Agence France-Presse in Washington

Published at 12:24

• United States

The right to abortion emerged strengthened in several American states during referendums held Tuesday in parallel with the presidential election, while similar consultations failed in South Dakota and Florida, the third most populous state in the country.

Ten states organized this type of consultation, more than two years after the Supreme Court annulled federal protection of this right in the summer of 2022.

Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and New York have voted for measures in favor of abortion rights, according to American media.

But Florida and South Dakota have become the first states since 2022 to reject a proposal to expand access to abortion rights by referendum.

The result is not yet known in Nebraska.

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The issue was put at the center of the presidential campaign by Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who positioned herself as the protector of women's rights against her rival Donald Trump. The Republican, elected overnight, had profoundly reworked the Supreme Court before it made its historic decision.

The Democratic Party had also counted on these elections to mobilize its electorate and encourage them to go to the polls.

In Arizona, voters voted to amend the state constitution. The proposal restores the ability to perform an abortion up to fetal viability (around 24 weeks of gestation) instead of the current 15 weeks.

In Missouri, the change will be even more dramatic: the state had one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Voters in that state approved an amendment to its constitution to allow abortions up to fetal viability.

In Florida, the failed amendment also sought to reinstate the possibility of abortion up to fetal viability. The current cutoff is six weeks, before many women realize they are pregnant.

In the state, which voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump on Tuesday, the measure needed a 60 percent “yes” vote to pass, the highest threshold of the 10 states affected.

According to media reports, 57 percent of voters in Florida voted in favor of the measure.

“Refusal of care”

“A majority of Florida voters made it clear tonight that they want their reproductive rights restored. But because of a high threshold of 60% and the state’s misinformation campaign, they must continue to live in fear, uncertainty and denial of care,” responded Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

In a statement from an anti-abortion group, Christina Pena, a gynecologist in Miami, welcomed the rejection of a measure that “would have been disastrous for women and doctors.”

The amendment’s supporters had hoped that Florida, surrounded by states with very restrictive abortion laws, could once again become a haven for women in the southeastern United States.

For more than two years, abortion rights had always won out at the polls, even in states conservatives like Kansas and Kentucky.

Florida was not alone in rejecting expanded access to abortion. In South Dakota, where it is banned except when necessary to save the mother’s life, voters voted against an amendment that would have reinstated it, according to US media reports.

Nearly all of the referendums held on the subject on Tuesday aimed to reverse restrictions or bans adopted since 2022, or to enshrine the right to abortion in states where it has remained legal, such as Colorado, New York and Maryland.

After the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022, states have regained full latitude to legislate in this area, and around twenty of them have since put in place partial or total restrictions.

Throughout her campaign, Kamala Harris has spoken out about the tragic situations some women find themselves in because of these bans or restrictions.

Many are forced to travel to other states to obtain an abortion, and some have suffered serious complications, as doctors may be afraid to intervene in cases of miscarriages or other problems, without being accused of performing an illegal abortion.