Pro-choice advocates ran up the score on state ballot measures ensuring abortion access, but the main takeaway from Election Day was that the abortion issue failed to deliver for Democrats in 2024 as it did in 2022.
Not only did Vice President Kamala Harris lose her presidential bid despite making abortion central to her campaign, but Republicans took control of the Senate by defeating pro-choice incumbents in Ohio and Montana and replacing them with pro-life challengers.
What’s more, Ms. Harris lost to the person she deemed most responsible for imperiling abortion access: former President Donald Trump, who built the conservative Supreme Court majority that overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Placing abortion front and center in November 2022 helped Democrats beat back the anticipated “red wave,” but that was then. Exit polls indicate that issues such as the economy, democracy and border security took precedence on Tuesday.
“In 2024, voters focused more on issues like the economy, public safety, and rising costs than the question of abortion. Yet, Democrats chose to run on an abortion extremism agenda that doesn’t resonate with the vast majority of women voters across this nation,” Kristen Day, Democrats for Life executive director, told The Washington Times.
Another sign of the issue’s waning momentum: The Tuesday election saw the pro-choice movement snap its unbroken streak of victories on state ballot measures.
Abortion access measures won in seven states but lost to the pro-life opposition in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota.
“There are two big stories out of the 2024 election. The first is that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz really overplayed their hands. They led with abortion. It was their top issue, and it was really the only issue they wanted to talk about,” said Katie Daniel, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
“The second big story of the night is the leadership that we saw in our pro-life states, especially in those that beat back pro-abortion ballot initiatives,” she said. “This was a big contrast from past cycles.”
Before Tuesday, the abortion rights side had won all seven of the state ballot contests held after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which sent abortion decision-making to the states.
Crucial to Tuesday’s pro-life wins was the involvement of prominent Republicans. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis made it his mission to defeat pro-choice Amendment 4, which gained 57% of the vote but fell short of the 60% threshold required for constitutional amendments.
In Nebraska, Sen. Pete Ricketts and his mother, Marlene Ricketts, were the biggest donors to Protect Women and Children, the campaign for Initiative 434, which kept in place the state’s 12-week abortion limit.
The measure competed directly against Initiative 439, a right-to-abortion measure bankrolled by Planned Parenthood and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Initiative 439 lost by a margin of 51% to 49%, while Initiative 434 won with 55% of the vote. Nebraska and South Dakota were also the only states that saw the pro-life side outspend the pro-choice camp.
“Nebraska’s victory shows that when the GOP invests time and money to fight ballot measures, life wins on the ballot,” said SBA Pro-Life America. “If Republicans in states with future ballot fights model Pete Ricketts’ courage and involvement, we will secure more victories for women and babies in the womb.”
Planned Parenthood countered by accusing Mr. Trump of running away from his record on abortion, but it didn’t sugarcoat the Tuesday defeats.
“This loss hits hard. But everything we’re feeling right now — rage, sadness, loss, fear — will fuel the next phase of our fight,” Planned Parenthood regional affiliates said on X. “We are great in number, and we will not be silenced.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>This loss hits hard. But everything we’re feeling right now—rage, sadness, loss, fear—will fuel the next phase of our fight.<br><br>We are great in number, and we will not be silenced. <a href=”https://t.co/mvukrUPAon“>pic.twitter.com/mvukrUPAon</a></p>— Planned Parenthood North Dakota Advocate (@ppNoDak) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ppNoDak/status/1854243572846932161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw“>November 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8”></script>
For abortion rights groups, the silver lining was their ballot victories in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and New York. In each state, voters supported measures to add abortion rights to the state constitution.
Some of the Tuesday victories were gimmes. In Colorado, Maryland and New York, voters essentially enshrined the pro-choice status quo into the state constitution, meaning little will change with regard to abortion access.
Other outcomes were more consequential. In Missouri, the Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment squeaked through with a 51.7% majority after supporters outspent the pro-life opposition by $30 million to $2 million, according to Ballotpedia.
Missouri now bans abortion with exceptions to save the woman’s life and physical health. The amendment prohibits restrictions before fetal viability, or 23 to 24 weeks’ gestation, but also allows abortions after viability to protect the “life or physical or mental health” of the woman in the judgment of the “treating health care professional.”
Pro-life groups argue that the amendment essentially allows elective abortion until birth, given that the “treating health care professional” can be the abortion provider. Foes are expected to challenge the measure in court before it goes into effect 30 days after passage.
Amendments guaranteeing abortion rights also passed in Arizona, Montana and Nevada. The Nevada measure, Question 6, must be approved by the voters again in 2026 to be added to the state constitution.
Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, said the lopsided 63% victory in Nevada shows that the abortion issue continues to resonate with voters.
“Nevada voters reaffirmed an undeniable truth: Reproductive freedom is a winning issue that mobilizes voters in historic numbers,” said Ms. Timmaraju, who led the Yes on 6 campaign. “This is a huge victory for Nevadans and an essential step to further protecting their rights.”
In South Dakota, the pro-choice measure Amendment G lost by 59% to 41%, but the proposal was a bit of an outlier.
Amendment G was written by Dakotans for Health, a state advocacy group, to mirror the three-trimester framework of Roe v. Wade, and was not backed by Planned Parenthood or the American Civil Liberties Union.
As a result, the campaign was relatively low-spending. Dakotans for Health raised $647,000 versus about $1 million for the pro-life opposition.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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