Activists turn to ballot measures for abortion access, but they're not available in all states

In the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, activists have increasingly sought to place the issue of abortion access on the ballot in states across the country.

And in many places, pro-abortion rights activists have succeeded.

But in 25 states, citizens are not allowed to place ballot measures or constitutional measures on the ballot, according to an NBC News analysis of data compiled by the University of Southern California Initiative & Referendum Institute.

That includes measures and amendments related to abortion, as well as other issues.

In states where measures and amendments related to abortion have been placed on the ballot, the pro-abortion rights side has tended to be victorious since the court overturned Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year.

In Kansas, just weeks after Dobbs, Kansans voted down a constitutional amendment that aimed to remove reproductive rights from the state's constitution.

In Montana, voters in December rejected a "Born Alive," measure, which would require doctors and other medical workers to provide care for premature infants or babies born in a failed abortion attempt. Supporters of the measure argued the protections were necessary, but opponents, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, argued that "mandates like this initiative are cruel, and would impose additional trauma on families."

In the next year and a half, voters in several states will head to the polls to vote on measures related to abortion access.

In New York and in Maryland, voters in November 2024 will decide on whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

And in Ohio, there is a measure that voters may vote on as soon as November of this year that would enshrine the right of individuals to carry out one’s own reproductive decisions without interference from the state.

Republicans in the state, however, are seeking to have people vote on their own constitutional amendment, before November, that would raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments.