Red States Take Steps to Keep Abortion Off Ballot

Lawmakers in Mississippi and Missouri are taking action to avoid joining a growing list of ballot box victories for abortion advocates.

Demonstrators gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, a case about a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, in Washington on Dec. 1, 2021. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Politically, the states of California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Vermont run the gamut from very liberal to very conservative.

But as of late, they have something in common. Voters in each state either approved pro-abortion ballot initiatives or rejected pro-life ballot initiatives following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of its landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.