Leaving Abortion to the States Has Been Chaotic. Florida & Nebraska Just Proved It’s Also Pointless.

For the past year, Trump and the GOP have patted themselves on the back for letting states decide on abortion rights, with Trump calling it a “beautiful thing to watch.” Let’s take a look at what actually happened.

By Kylie Cheung | November 7, 2024 | 3:08pm

Photo: Getty Images Abortion In Depth Politics

Leaving Abortion to the States Has Been Chaotic. Florida & Nebraska Just Proved It’s Also Pointless.

Donald Trump spent the last year campaigning on the lie that he’d continue to leave abortion up to the states—which has already led to a sharp rise in pregnancy-related criminal charges, women being denied life-saving emergency abortions, and the confirmed deaths of at least four women. But, regardless, this was Trump’s ostensibly generous concession to women: the consolation that, as one Georgia judge recently put it, our bodies and lives are “collectively owned community property” at the whim of a “majority vote.”

But in some states, the majority vote doesn’t always win, and in others, the proliferation of disinformation campaigns means voters barely understand what they’re voting for… or against. Abortion rights measures were on the ballot in 10 states—seven of them passed and three didn’t. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as “not enough people voted for them,” because in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota, the abortion rights amendments were largely set up for failure by their state governments.

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Let’s back up. Only 19 states allow voters rather than the state legislature to directly put measures on the ballot. Many states that don’t offer a direct citizen initiative process have enforced sweeping abortion bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned, including Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. And in the states that do allow voters to put measures on the ballot, the built-in challenges can be insurmountable.

In Florida, Amendment 4 did receive a majority vote, and a decisive majority too—57% of voters said they wanted a right to abortion enshrined in the state Constitution. But that didn’t meet the state’s required 60% threshold, so it was defeated. This threshold, which was adopted in 2006 after well-funded special-interest groups poured an outsized amount of money into the campaign in support of the constitutional amendment, didn’t even receive 60% of the vote itself; it passed with only 58%. This wildly anti-democratic requirement goes hand-in-hand with Gov. Ron DeSantis siphoning taxpayer dollars toward spreading disinformation about Amendment 4, threatening TV stations that aired its ads with criminal charges, and sending police to the homes of its supporters.

In Nebraska, confusion and disinformation reigned as the state’s Republican secretary of state approved two, dueling ballot measures—one to enshrine the state’s existing 12-week abortion ban in the state Constitution, and one to enshrine a right to abortion. This, by design, is incredibly confusing—even more confusing is the anti-abortion measure calling itself “Protect Women and Children,” while anti-abortion organizers told some voters their campaign was the “pro-choice” campaign. Unsurprisingly, the abortion ban ballot measure received more votes than the abortion rights one. No one can make an informed, straightforward decision under these circumstances, and that’s the entire point.

South Dakota’s ballot measure decisively lost by close to 20 points, even though the petition for the measure received double the number necessary to appear on the ballot. There weren’t necessarily built-in barriers to stop the measure, but it certainly didn’t help that anti-abortion activists had unfettered power to spread mass disinformation and intimidation campaigns against the measure. Activists reportedly called voters across the state who had signed a petition for the ballot measure, identified themselves as government officials, and pressured these voters to revoke their signatures. Deceit and harassment like this have targeted abortion rights measures in every state, including in Ohio and Kansas in 2023, though both states succeeded in passing their abortion rights amendments.

Meanwhile, Colorado’s ballot measure to codify a right to abortion passed, surpassing the state’s required 55% threshold by about six points. But what if the measure had only received 54% of the vote? That would still be a solid majority of voters, and it would have failed. In Nevada, a measure to similarly codify a right to abortion also passed, but under state law, for the measure to take effect, a majority of voters will have to vote for it again in 2026. Thankfully, abortion is currently legal in Nevada—but if it weren’t, the ballot measure’s victory on Tuesday would mean nothing for at least two years.

Months before Election Day, Arkansas organizers gathered well over the required 90,000 signatures for their abortion rights measure to get on the ballot; but in August, based on a few small technicalities related to training certifications for canvassers, the state Supreme Court disqualified the measure. In a dissenting opinion, one of the justices wrote, “Why are the respondent and the majority determined to keep this particular vote from the people? The majority has succeeded in its efforts to change the law in order to deprive the voters of the opportunity to vote on this issue.”

In June, Trump said that thanks to him, the reversal of Roe has allowed states to vote on abortion (they could always do this), and that he thinks it’s been a miracle of democracy to witness: “In many cases, it’s more liberal. In some cases, they’re going the other direction. But the people are deciding. … And in many ways, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”

Hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into abortion rights campaigns across the country. Many were successful, yet they’ll still likely face prolonged, uphill legal battles before they’re allowed to take effect. Others failed due to disinformation campaigns, voter intimidation, insidious constitutional amendments, and right-wing court decisions. While all of this is happening, abortion funds are running on empty, and people are struggling or unable to get abortions, and in many states with abortion bans, clinics are closing, OB-GYNs are fleeing, and maternal mortality rates are rising. This is “beautiful” to watch?

Across the country, campaigns for abortion rights ballot measures pushed the message that these measures weren’t partisan. Many voters in states like Florida and Arizona then voted for both abortion rights measures and Trump, believing Trump wouldn’t override these measures by imposing a national ban. In other words, Trump successfully lied to the nation that he’d leave abortion up to the states—but he won’t. His FDA and Justice Department will likely crack down on abortion access across the country.

But the even more glaring deceit is the idea that “leaving abortion up to the states” is a simple premise, a clean solution, an effective compromise. It’s not just Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota that are examples, but the 31 states (and D.C.) that don’t even allow citizens to put measures on the ballot at all.