Abortion rights ballot measures pass in 7 states, fail in 3

Constitutional amendments aimed at protecting or expanding abortion passed in seven of the 10 states where they appeared on the ballot Tuesday. NBC News Projects.

Voters in Arizona And Missouri approved ballot initiatives that would effectively protect abortion rights up to fetal viability and repeal existing abortion laws. But voters in Florida, Nebraska And South Dakota rejected proposed amendments that would have done the same thing, becoming the first abortion rights ballot measure to fail since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Meanwhile, voters in Maryland MontanaNevada and New York (where abortion is already legal as long as the fetus is viable) and Colorado (where there are no laws restricting abortion and no gestational age limit for women seeking an abortion) have passed measures that would formalize these existing rights. Organizers said the amendments are intended to prevent lawmakers from rolling back existing protections in the future.

In Nebraska, two opposing abortion measures appeared on the general election ballot. The version approved by voters would protect the right to abortion in the first trimester, while banning the procedure in the second and third trimesters except in cases of medical emergency or in cases where the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest. The passage would effectively codify existing state law banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions, into the state constitution.

Another amendment that would have enshrined in the conservative state’s constitution a right to abortion before fetal viability was defeated.

Amendment defeats in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota ended what an unbroken winning streak it was to vote on measures supporting abortion rights within two and a half years of Roe’s overthrow.

In Florida, voters rejected a ballot initiative that would prohibit restrictions on abortion before fetal viability and would include exceptions after that point for “the health of the patient as determined by the patient’s treating physician.”

Florida law requires the measure to pass by 60% of voters, not a simple majority. With 96% of the expected vote, the abortion rights amendment received 57% support.

Its failure saves the state six week ban on abortion, which includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the woman.

In South Dakota proposed ballot amendment would make abortion legal in all situations in the first trimester of pregnancy. This would allow for “regulation” of second trimester abortions, but such regulation “must be reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” The amendment would allow for “regulation or prohibition” by the state during the third trimester unless a doctor determines that the care is necessary to “preserve the life or health” of the woman.

South Dakota has a near-total ban on abortion, which took effect again after Roe was overturned in 2022. The ban, which abortion rights groups say is one of the strictest in the country, bans all abortions unless it is necessary to save the woman’s life.

This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.