Maryland, Colorado, New York and Missouri protect the right to abortion and Florida prohibits it in the US elections

Maryland, Colorado, New York and Missouri have protected the right to abortion in the Constitution in these United States elections in which, in addition to electing the next president, ten states have voted on amendments that seek to repeal laws that prohibit or restrict the voluntary interruption of pregnancy.

Florida will maintain abortion restrictions after failing to obtain 60% of the necessary votes, despite the fact that the majority of the population had opted for women’s right to decide. In Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota the results are not yet known.

In the case of Florida, Amendment 4 sought to enshrine in the state Constitution the right to abortion, which is currently limited by law to the first six weeks of gestation. Ultimately, the petition has missed its goal by about three percentage points.

Currently, Abortion is prohibited without exception in the states of Missouri and South Dakota. While in Arizona the voluntary interruption of pregnancy is prohibited before 15 weeks, in Nebraska before 12 and in Florida before six.

In Missouri, where abortion is almost completely prohibited, even in cases of rape and incest, this vote has allowed the incorporation of the right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion and birth control, so the legislation It cannot prohibit it in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.

Additionally, the passage of certain amendments in Arizona and South Dakota, where legislation is especially limitedwould lead to reversing prohibitions or restrictions that currently prevent millions of women of childbearing age from having abortions.

In the case of Arizona, Proposition 139 seeks to amend the state constitution and establish a “fundamental right” for women to have right to request an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. The initiative contemplates exceptions, such as in the event that a doctor decides that it is necessary to perform an abortion during a later pregnancy to protect the physical or mental health of the woman.

Abortion has been present on the ballots of a dozen states, so that voters could decide the future of these procedures after the decision of the Supreme Court in 2022, the year in which it overturned the case known as Roe v. Wade and in this way eliminated the federal protection that governed this issue.