WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters defeated a measure to add abortion rights to the Florida state constitution on Tuesday but sided with abortion-rights advocates on ballot measures in Colorado, Maryland and New York. Results were still pending in six other states with abortion measures on the ballot. Most voters supported the Florida measure, but it fell short of the required 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state.
Most states require a simple majority. The result was a political win for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that will keep in place the state’s ban on most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.
It’s the first ballot measure victory for abortion opponents in any state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade in 2022, a decision that ended the nationwide right to abortion and opened the door to bans in most GOP-controlled states, protections in Democrat-dominated ones and new political and legal battles across the country. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is “a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” praising DeSantis for leading the charge against the measure. DeSantis , a Republican with a national profile, has steered state GOP funds to the cause.
His administration has weighed in, too, with a campaign against the measure, investigators questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and threats to .