Since the beginning of the U.S., public opinion has been heavily valued and seen as an American right. Inevitably, the ability to voice candid opinions has shaped our country — but can often divide the nation. With the 2024 election, the controversial topic of abortion has been presented to various states on the ballot, gathering the majority of the population to decide on abortion access in their states. However, abortion was recently not left up to the states. What implications does this have on our country and the people in it?

This is not the first time that abortion access has been approached this way. In 2022 and 2023, reproductive rights were first introduced on ballots and presented to voters — this was responded to positively. Now, ten states have re-presented this issue to its voters.

Within these ten, there are a few notable mentions. First, Florida has proposed an amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution — passing if there is at least 60 percent in favor. Abortion rights are currently banned after six weeks (the most common time for people to find out they are pregnant). The amendment declares that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.” Fetus viability is seen as 24 weeks after gestation. Similarly, Missouri has asked its voters to weigh in their opinions, as abortion rights are currently completely banned there, except in cases of emergency. If the vote gets a majority, the state constitution will allow a “constitutional right to reproductive freedom” — as stated in the proposed amendment titled “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative.” In South Dakota, there is an amendment to undo the total ban (except in cases to save the mother) and instead offer reproductive freedom during the first trimester, regulate abortion in the second trimester, and completely ban it in the third. If voted “yes” by the majority, this would amend the current state constitution. In addition to these three states, the others include Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and New York. All are asking for at least 50 percent in favor of upholding their current abortion rights, ranging from fully allowing abortion to only up to 15 weeks.

The topic of abortion has been a pressing one, considering the different views across candidates. President Donald Trump was responsible for electing the Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe v Wade in 2022. Afterward, he stated he was happy to have returned the rights to the states; however, he did say that the abortion ban in Florida is “too short” and a “terrible, terrible thing.” After declaring that, he received backlash from many conservatives in Florida, now stating that he will vote “no” on the proposed amendment. For Vice President Harris, she has been solid on her stance on abortion — a firm supporter. Within a campaign event in Savannah, Georgia, she said, “Ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom, like the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.” She has also stated that she will never impose a complete abortion ban — a common criticism of President Trump.

There have still been cases of unclear abortion laws in states, resulting in doctors not treating their patients due to a fear of potential consequences. For example, in 2022 in Texas, a woman had to travel out of the state to receive abortion care despite having kidney failure — the cause of her needing an abortion. In Missouri, there was a report of doctors being unable to treat a woman whose water broke at 18 weeks. Amy Willets, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Northwestern Hospital, stated that even in Illinois (where abortion is legal), there have been changes to her practice after the overturning of Roe V Wade. Women who have been on the pill for years have switched to long-term IUDs and have been very emotional due to the feeling of pressure that this ruling incited. “Abortion rate has hit its lowest point,” and “we have seen dramatic decreases in abortion rates since Obamacare has made birth control so much more affordable,” Willets said. However, in 2016, one of President Trump’s promises was that he would overturn the Affordable Care Act — and with it, Obamacare. Willets stated that the “availability and cost of birth control is in large part controlled by insurance companies, and if Trump is elected and breaks down Obamacare, that could definitely make all types of birth control much more expensive.” She also added, “If the overturning of Roe was truly about the sanctity of life, we would spend more money on health care so that women could have safe, affordable birth control so that they could prevent undesired pregnancy.” In regards to the upcoming abortion referendums, she believes that “the states that have put referendums on ballots since Roe was overturned have gone to protect women’s rights to privacy and protection… lets hope it brings out undecided voters or those who normally wouldn’t vote for this alone.”

As the election has now come to an end, so have the referendums. Maryland, New York, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, and Montana have all passed an amendment that will amend their state constitutions to include reproductive rights. Florida and South Dakota have both rejected this amendment — so there will be no change to their state constitutions. For Nebraska, their first proposed amendment, which stated that abortion should be banned in the second and third trimesters, got passed. The other proposed amendment — which was to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution — failed.  Overall, the people spoke and, thus, these were the desired outcomes of most of those state populations.