Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada South Dakota and New York also voted to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions following the highly controversial 2022 Supreme Court decision, which removed the nationwide right to abortion and left the issue to the states, according to NTB.
In June 2022, the US Supreme Court, which now has a conservative majority, chose to set aside the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling from 1973. The ruling from 1973 had established that the US Constitution gave the right to abortion, and this had been applicable for the 49 years that have passed since.
In the time since the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling, abortion has been a major topic of controversy in the United States.
Clear victory
Missouri was one of the first states to ban abortion following the Supreme Court ruling. Now they become the first state to repeal the abortion ban, after a large majority voted to amend the state constitution last night, according to The Guardian. Missouri is a clear Republican state, and in the presidential election Donald Trump received 56.9 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris got only 41.6 percent.
Republican elected officials around the United States have stepped in to curtail abortion rights in several places, including deeply conservative Missouri.
– Today, people in Missouri have made history and sent a clear message: Decisions related to pregnancy – including abortion, contraception and treatment in the event of miscarriage – are personal and private and should be up to the individual and the family, not politicians, says Rachel Sweet, who has led the campaign to remove the abortion ban in the state.
Colorado, New York and Maryland also passed abortion rights. However, in Florida, an attempt to remove the abortion ban that was introduced just six weeks ago failed. The same thing happened in Nebraska.
In New York, an amendment prohibiting discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcome” was passed. This means that women should not be discriminated against because of what happened to their pregnancy, writes NTB.
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Court cases
The daily newspaper have previously said that there are different rules in the various states, and some states have some exceptions. But most of these states have bans in all cases, also including rape or incest. In Georgia, there is a ban on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, that is to say a very short time after you usually find out that you are pregnant.
The results of Tuesday’s election will not be the last word on repealing abortion bans. Court cases about the interpretations of the legislation will certainly come and show how difficult the abortion issue is in the United States.
In Arizona, Montana, Nevada and South Dakota, the counts are not ready, which may take several days.
In Arizona, the choice of the right to an abortion is until the fetus is viable, or approximately 24 weeks. Abortion is currently prohibited in the state after week 15.
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Life and health
Abortion in Montana is currently legal. The choice was now about “the right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion” until the fetus is viable, or after viability to protect a patient’s life or health,
In Nevada, the choice was about the right to abortion until viability, or after viability in cases where the patient’s health or life may be threatened.
South Dakota’s measure is less comprehensive, because it would only grant the right to an abortion before the 12th week of pregnancy. But here there will be a court case about the validity of the signatures that were collected so that it could be voted on. The outcome of the trial will determine whether the vote will be valid or not, according to The Guardian.
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