Since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, one of the primary battlegrounds over abortion policy has been in the states. Both abortion-rights advocates and pro-life organizations have turned to statewide ballot initiatives to advance their policy positions on abortion.
What makes the 2026 landscape particularly interesting is the fact that it is no longer only about abortion activists attempting to expand and entrench abortion policy through state constitutions. For the first time since Dobbs, organized efforts are underway to reverse previous abortion-rights ballot victories.
Abortion Will Be on the Ballot in Three States
Abortion-related constitutional amendments will be on the ballot in three states this fall, including Nevada, Missouri, and Virginia.
Nevada
Nevada voters will be asked whether they want to amend the state constitution to allow abortions until viability or at any time to preserve the health or life of the mother. The health exception offers a loophole to allow abortions at any time in the pregnancy.
State law requires the measure we passed by voters in two even-numbered years. The voters already approved it by a margin of 64% to 35%. All that is required for passage is a simple majority.
Under current state law, Nevada allows abortions until viability and at any time to preserve the health and life of the mother.
In 2024, the abortion lobby spent over $13 million to pass the amendment, while there was no financial effort to defeat it.
Missouri
This fall, Missouri voters will consider a ballot measure to repeal the abortion amendment that was passed in 2024.
In 2024, voters very narrowly (51% to 48%) approved Amendment 3, which established a constitutional right to abortion until viability or at any time to preserve the health or life of the mother.
Prior to this amendment, state law protected preborn babies from the moment of conception.
Now, pro-life advocates and lawmakers have successfully advanced a new constitutional amendment that would ask voters whether to restore protections for preborn children and put new limits on abortion.
Interestingly, the measure was referred to the ballot by the Missouri legislature and not only repeals the abortion amendment from 2024 but also bans opposite sex transgender surgeries for minors.
The latest public poll on this measure from February 2026 shows 47% support, 40% oppose and 12% are still undecided.
The threshold for passage of a constitutional amendment in Missouri is a simple majority vote (50% +1).
In 2024, abortion activists in Missouri reported more than $31 million in campaign contributions, while pro-life advocates reported about $2 million in contributions.
Virginia
This fall, Virginia voters will consider a ballot measure to enshrine abortion in the state constitution. It was referred by the state legislature.
The amendment would allow abortion until the third trimester or at any time to preserve the health or life of the mother. The health exception offers a loophole to permit abortions at any time in the pregnancy.
Under current Virginia law, abortion is permitted until the third trimester or at any time to preserve the health or life of the mother.
The latest public poll on this measure from January 2026 shows 66% support, 28% oppose and 6% are still undecided.
The threshold for passage of a constitutional amendment in Virginia is a simple majority vote (50% +1).
Abortion Could Be on the Ballot in Three Other States
Efforts are still underway in Nebraska, Colorado and Idaho to put abortion-related measures on the ballot, but deadlines are quickly approaching and these citizen-led measures require signatures and verification to make the ballot this fall.
In Nebraska, there is a pro-life effort to amend the constitution to include that a “preborn child is a person at every stage of development, beginning at fertilization.” Signatures are due July 1, 2026.
In Colorado, there is a pro-life effort to repeal the abortion amendment that was passed in 2024. The measure was cleared for signature gathering on May 1, 2026. Signatures are due August 3, 2026.
And in Idaho, abortion activists are attempting to enshrine abortion into the state constitution making it legal through viability. Signatures were submitted on May 1, 2026, and are currently being verified by the Secretary of State.
Abortion Amendment Background
To date, abortion advocates have secured 14 victories at the ballot box on abortion-related statewide measures. By comparison, the pro-life movement received three notable wins in 2024.
In Florida and South Dakota, voters rejected proposed constitutional amendments that would have expanded abortion rights. In Nebraska, voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting the state’s existing law limiting most abortions to the first trimester.
Daily Citizen is a news division of Focus on the Family that provides a faith-based perspective to counter the mainstream media’s anti-Christian bias.
Editor’s Note: Why Being Pro-life Is The ‘Only Biblical Position’
Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Riverside in California explained why being Pro-Life and active in the fight against abortion is the “only Biblical position.”
“The topic of abortion is very personal to me—not just because I am a pastor, but because I myself was not planned. I was conceived as a result of a one-night stand, and could have become another abortion statistic. Thankfully, that did not happen,” he detailed. “Each child is created by God and is granted the gift of life at conception. I am grateful my mother brought me to term. And I believe, unequivocally, that each and every child should be given the chance to live.”
“Since the passing of Roe v. Wade in the early 1970s, an estimated 63 million+ babies have been aborted,” Laurie lamented. “The abortion industry creates revenue in excess of $4 billion in the United States alone. Despite the fact that Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, many states have continued this practice, under the banner of ‘woman’s rights.’ The truth is that abortion takes the life of an innocent child in the womb. It is, plainly speaking, murder.”
“I think one of the reasons abortion has persisted is because we are so desensitized to murder,” he underscored. “Our culture today is awash in violence. Everywhere we look, we see it: on our television screens, in theaters, in music, and in video games. But it’s sin. It’s the Sixth Commandment: ‘You shall not murder’ (Exodus 20:13). Translated from the original Hebrew, the word ‘murder’ means ‘to dash in pieces.’ It’s the intentional and forcible taking of another’s life. Through abortion, millions of children are being chemically burned, cut to pieces, suctioned, starved, crushed, poisoned, or impaled in the womb.”
“Our culture tries to dehumanize these babies with rewordings and euphemisms. They call murder ‘terminating a pregnancy’ and they label unborn babies as ‘fetuses,’ ’embryos,’ ‘globs of cells,’ ‘uterine contents,’ or ‘products of conception.’ But the reality is that they are innocent children, made in the image of God, and they have every right to live.”
“If you don’t agree with that then, frankly, you disagree with the Bible,” Laurie asserted, adding that the church has a responsibility to be “active in the battle against abortion.”
