As we stare down the barrel of a second Trump presidency, it can be hard to feel optimistic about the future of abortion rights in the United States. Yet some surprising election results (which, it should be said, are still incoming) in states where reproductive autonomy was on the ballot are providing a bright spot.
Yes, there’s still too much to do when it comes to securing the right to safe, legal, and accessible abortion care for all Americans. But there are several clear wins to celebrate—such as the election of a pro-choice governor in North Carolina—even as we decry the failure of states like Florida and South Dakota to protect abortion rights and mourn the lives of the pregnant people who have died since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Below, find a roundup of abortion-related wins from the November 5 election—and if you’re eager to help those struggling to obtain reproductive care in states with abortion bans in the days and weeks to come, remember that local abortion funds are likely your best option to reach those in immediate need.
Missouri
A ballot amendment aimed at enshrining reproductive rights in Missouri’s state constitution passed on Tuesday night, making the state the first to overturn a post-Roe abortion ban through a citizen-initiated ballot measure. The amendment, which establishes “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in Missouri, will take effect 30 days after its passing.
Maryland
On Tuesday, Marylanders approved an amendment that would dramatically limit future lawmakers’ ability to restrict aboriton access without defying the state’s constituion. “Today marks a significant victory for the rights, dignity, and autonomy of every person in our state, and those patients and their families who are forced to leave their home communities to travel to Maryland for healthcare,” Morgan Nuzzo, co-founder of Partners of Abortion Care, a clinic in Maryland, said in a statement.
Arizona
Proposition 139, also known as the Arizona Abortion Access Act, was approved by Arizona voters by a margin of roughly two to one this week. While election results aren’t official in the state just yet, it’s looking increasingly likely that the state—which previously had one of the strictest abortion bans in the country—will enshrine abortion rights in its constitution, limiting the ability to restrict abortion prior to the point of fetal viability (which is around 24 weeks).
Montana
Montana’s Right to Abortion Initiative, which seeks to amend the state constitution to guarantee the right to “make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion,” passed on Wednesday, officially prohibiting the government from interfering with any Montanan’s right to get an abortion prior to the point of fetal viability (or post-viability, if deemed necessary to protect the pregnant person’s life or health.)
Colorado
Abortion access will now officially be enshrined in Colorado’s state constitution—but that’s not the only reproductive-rights-related good news out of the Centennial State. A 40-year-old ban on using government money to pay for abortion care was also lifted on Tuesday, meaning insurance plans for Colorado’s tens of thousands of government employees could cover abortions (and Medicaid will also be able to pay for reproductive care).
New York
Proposition 1, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment, passed on Tuesday, codifying abortion rights in the New York state constitution by including “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy” as a protected class and barring discrimination based on an expanded set of conditions, including ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy. Although right-wing opponents of the measure took aim at its protection of transgender people, 63% of New Yorkers ultimately voted in the proposition’s favor.
Nevada
On Wednesday, a ballot measure aimed at enshrining abortion rights in Nevada’s state constitution also passed. Although voters will have to approve the measure in 2026 in order to actually amend the constitution, there’s still plenty of cause for celebration. “With these results, voters across party lines rejected misinformation and fearmongering to send an unequivocal message,” Lindsey Harmon, president of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, told the AP in a statement. “Decisions about abortion should be made by women, their families, and their medical providers—not politicians.”
