Election Day is fast approaching on November 3, and voters in four states will decide on abortion-related ballot referendums: Missouri, Virginia, Nevada, and Idaho. Before you go to the polls, be sure to educate yourself, your family, and your Church on what you’ll see on the ballot and what it means.
The following are descriptions of the four abortion ballot initiatives up for consideration this fall, including how they will appear on the ballot.
Missouri Amendment 3
In 2024, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to enshrine the right to an abortion in the Missouri Constitution. The 2024 amendment was intentionally worded to permit late-term abortions.
Missouri Amendment 3 repeals the 2024 constitutional amendment and adds a prohibition of gender transition procedures on minors to the Missouri Constitution.
Appearance on ballot:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
Repeal the 2024 voter-approved Amendment providing reproductive healthcare rights, including abortion through fetal viability; Allow abortions for rape and incest (under twelve-weeks’ gestation), emergencies, and fetal anomalies; Allow legislation regulating abortion; Ensure parental consent for minors’ abortions; Prohibit gender transition procedures for minors?
A “yes” vote will repeal Article I, Section 36, of the Missouri Constitution approved by the voters in 2024 which provided reproductive healthcare rights, including abortion through fetal viability; continue to ensure women’s ability to access medical care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages; allow legislation to regulate abortion providers and facilities to ensure health and safety; require informed and voluntary consent for an abortion, including parental or judicial consent for minors; allow restriction of abortions to cases of medical emergency, rape and incest under twelve weeks gestation, and fetal anomalies; prohibit public funding of abortions except in limited circumstances; and prohibit gender transition procedures for minors including gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs, with exceptions for specific medical conditions.
A “no” vote will leave Article I, Section 36, of the Missouri Constitution approved by voters in 2024 in place; will not limit abortion to cases of medical emergency, rape and incest under twelve weeks gestation, and fetal anomalies, but leave access to abortion available through fetal viability; will not prohibit gender transition procedures for minors.
If passed, this measure will not increase or decrease taxes.
Virginia Question 1
Virginia Question 1 seeks to enshrine a “fundamental right to abortion” in the Virginia Constitution.
Appearance on Ballot:
Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) protect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care; (ii) protect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions; and (iii) allow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive?
Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Virginia has launched a statewide billboard campaign encouraging Virginians to learn more about the proposed constitutional amendment and be sure to vote. The amendment removes restrictions that currently limit third-trimester abortions in Virginia.
The amendment does not mention or regulate:
- Any limit on abortion regarding the age or viability of the unborn, so abortion would be legal up until the moment of birth;
- Any limit regarding the sex of the pregnant individual, removing “mother” from the state Constitution;
- Any limit regarding the age of the mother, so children of any age would have a “right” to abortion;
- Any age limit requiring parental notification or consent if a minor wants an abortion, so parents have no right to notification of their minor child’s decisions;
- Taxpayer funding of abortions;
- Any clinical standards for facilities that offer abortions;
- Any certification or medical requirements for abortion providers before the third trimester; and,
- Any rights of conscience or religious liberty for medical professionals.
Idaho Proposition 1
Proposed in response to Idaho’s protections under the 2022 Defense of Life Act, Idaho Proposition 1 seeks to establish a statutory right to abortion.
Appearance on Ballot:
The official short ballot title is as follows:
Measure creating right to abortion before fetus viability, and post-viability to protect health; right to privacy; healthcare provider liability protections.
The official long ballot title is as follows:
The measure seeks to change Idaho’s laws by introducing a right to reproductive freedom and privacy including a right to abortion up to the point of the fetus’s ability to survive outside the womb. After fetal viability, there would be no general right to abortion except in case of a “medical emergency.” The “medical emergency” exception would expand Idaho’s current life exception and allow abortions when a pregnant woman faces a complicating physical condition that threatens her life or health, including “serious impairment to a bodily function” or “serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.”
The proposed measure codifies a right to make reproductive decisions, including contraсерtion, fertility treatment, and prenatal and postpartum care. The measure seeks to prevent the state from enforcing current abortion laws protecting the life of the unborn child. It would also impose a requirement that any restrictions on reproductive freedom and privacy, including abortion prior to fetus viability, must be justified by a “compelling state interest” that must be “limited solely to improving or maintaining the health of an individual seeking care.” The measure would also prevent the state from penalizing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists in exercising the proposed right
Effect Statement:
A YES vote would support creating a right to abortion before fetal viability—defined as a fetus’ ability to survive without extraordinary medical measures—and after fetal viability in cases of medical emergency; providing protections against professional discipline and civil and criminal liability for healthcare providers; and codifying a statutory reproductive right to freedom and privacy.
A NO vote would support making no change to Idaho’s current law, which preserves the life of preborn children by prohibiting abortion, except when necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman, and during the first trimester in documented cases of rape or incest reported to law enforcement.
Fetal viability, defined here as “a fetus’ ability to survive without extraordinary medical measures,” could permit abortion at any point during pregnancy.
Nevada Question 6
Nevada Question 6 seeks to enshrine the right to abortion in the Nevada Constitution.
Appearance on Ballot:
Should the Nevada Constitution be amended to create an individual’s fundamental right to an abortion, without interference by state or local governments, whenever the abortion is performed by a qualified healthcare professional until fetal viability or when necessary to protect the health or life of the pregnant individual at any point during the pregnancy?
Fetal viability, defined in Question 6 as “a fetus’ ability to survive without extraordinary medical measures,” could permit abortion at any point during pregnancy, and like Virginia Question 1, Nevada Question 6 does not address:
- Any limit regarding the sex of the pregnant individual, removing “mother” from the state Constitution;
- Any limit regarding the age of the mother, so children of any age have a “right” to abortion;
- Any age limit requiring parental notification or consent if a minor wants an abortion;
- Taxpayers funding of abortions;
- Any clinical standards for facilities that offer abortions;
- Any certification or medical requirements for abortion providers; and
- Any rights of conscience or religious liberty for medical professionals.
Whatever your beliefs, it is fair to say that unborn lives are on the line on November 3. As Christians go to the polls next week, please join Concerned Women for America as we pray for truth, clarity, and a high turnout of voters making informed decisions.
