Arpad Nagy's blog

By Arpad Nagy (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Freepik

I am sure many of us were intently watching the outcome of the election last night, as so much hangs in the balance with who is elected in the USA.

But did you know that ten of the fifty states had ballot questions on abortion?

Since the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the responsibility to legislate on abortion was given back to the individual states. What this means is that it is no longer the federal government of the USA that dictates abortion policy, but each individual state. Since the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the abortion lobby has been hard at work to enshrine abortion into the legislation or constitution of each individual state. At the midterms in 2022, they succeeded in expanding the right to abortion in many states.

Last night, the abortion question was on the ballot in ten states. Here are the results:

Arizona proposed a piece of legislation to create a fundamental right to abortion up until 24 weeks of pregnancy. Up until now, Arizona permitted abortion up until 15 weeks of pregnancy. The proposition is going to pass, with 61.7% in favour, with 61% of the question ballots counted as of this morning. Pro-life has lost a lot of ground in Arizona.

Colorado proposed an amendment that would guarantee that the government would not impede against the right to abortion, including blocking health insurance coverage to pay for the killing of pre-born children. In Colorado, there was already no gestational limit to abortions. The amendment passed, with 61.5% in favour and 74% of the votes counted. Pro-life has lost a lot of ground in Colorado.

Maryland asked a question to voters whether they wanted to include reproductive freedom in the state’s constitution. The vote passed with 74.1% in favour. This does not change anything related to abortion access, but this will make it much more difficult now to protect the pre-born in the state of Maryland as abortion rights in now enshrined in their constitution. Pro-life has lost a lot of ground in Maryland.

Missouri proposed an amendment to include reproductive freedom in the state’s constitution. Up until now, Missouri had an almost complete abortion ban. The amendment passed with a tight vote – 51.7% in favour and 48.3% opposed. Abortion is now protected up until viability as well as for medical reasons in Missouri. Pro-life suffered a tragic setback in Missouri.

Montana proposed an amendment to include the right to abortion in their constitution. The amendment passed with 57.2% in favour. The law on abortion in Montana stays the same, but will make it much more difficult to restrict abortion in the future. Pro-life has lost a lot of ground in Montana.

Nebraska had 2 competing initiatives on the ballot last night. One was to prohibit abortions after the first trimester, and the other was to include the right to abortions until viability in their constitution. How this works is that if both amendments pass, the one with the highest result will come into effect. The amendment to further restrict abortion passed (with 55.3% in support), thus banning abortions after the first trimester, and the 2^nd amendment did not pass and abortion will not be added to their constitution. Pro-life has gained  ground in Nebraska!!!

Nevada proposed an amendment to include abortion until viability and for medical reasons in their constitution. The vote passed with 63.2% support and 84% of question ballots counted. Pro-life has lost a lot of ground in Nevada.

New York proposed an amendment to their bill of rights prohibit discrimination of a person’s civil rights based on several things including “pregnancy outcome.” The amendment passed (61.9% in favour and 88% of question ballots counted). This amendment does not change New Yorks abortion laws but does create an extra roadblock in defending the dignity of life in the state of New York. Pro-life has lost a little ground in New York.

South Dakota proposed a constitutional amendment to add the right to abortion in the state constitution. This amendment did not pass (with a strong 59.5% opposed), and South Dakota retains is near-ban on abortion. Pro-life has held firm in South Dakota!

Florida proposed an amendment to overturn the 6-week ban on abortion and prohibit restrictions before viability and for medical reasons. As an amendment needs 60% to pass, the 57.2% vote in favour was just short to pass this amendment. Pro-life has held its ground in Florida,but only by a slim margin. 

As a summary, out of the ten states that voted on abortion last night, seven of them were able to strengthen and expand the right to abortion in their states. Out of these seven, five (Nevada, Montana, Missouri, Maryland and Arizona) all added the right to abortion in their state constitution. This is a tragedy, as so many more children will not even have a chance to take their first breath. This is a tragedy, because a majority of voters in these states have made the statement that life is a commodity, and that life is not worth protecting.

Last night, three of the ten states chose not to expand abortion in their state. I am sure that the vote results in those states are representative of the hard work of the pro-life movement as well as of the common sense belief of the residents of those states in the dignity of life. I know that the abortion lobby was also hard at work in those three states, and will try again at the next possible opportunity.

What we can see from these results is that the abortion lobby has been hard at work to enshrine abortion rights into the constitution of every single state. The constitution of the state is their highest law, and changing the constitution is no small feat. Last night, in large part, they succeeded in what they set out to do. The reality that we face as pro-lifers is that we are constantly outmanned and out funded. The abortion lobby has so many resources to help sway the vote. The advocates of life in these states have years, if not decades of hard work in front of them. But the work the pro-life movement does is never in vain. Whether we are involved in helping mothers in need, taking part in education or activist initiatives, in helping pro-life candidates get elected—none of it is in vain.

Let us pray for our southern neighbours, so that they may awaken to the beauty of life and the necessity of protecting it from conception.