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Missouri voters approved a ballot amendment that enshrines a right to abortion in the State Constitution, The Associated Press reported, a stunning repudiation of one of the nation’s strictest bans on abortion. Missouri was the first state to enact an abortion ban after the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and the vote makes it the first to overturn a ban through a citizen-initiated ballot measure. Abortion rights groups have said that the amendment would take effect 30 days after it passed, and that they would then need to go to court to ask that the state’s ban be officially overturned as unconstitutional. (Zernike, 11/5)

The people of Missouri have spoken: The government should not be involved in decisions on reproductive health care. The amendment has established a constitutional right to abortion in Missouri. According to the Missouri Secretary of State, the amendment will take effect in 30 days — Dec. 5, 2024. In a concession speech Tuesday evening, state Rep. Crystal Quade, Democratic candidate for Missouri governor, took note of early returns showing support for Amendment 3. "We know that Amendment 3 is going to pass," she said to cheers. "We are going to show the extremists in Jefferson City that they have gone too far." (Szuch, 11/5)

In deep-red Missouri, where the state government is controlled by avowed abortion foes, even getting this initiative before voters was a feat. Republican state officials repeatedly threw up barriers to the process of certifying the ballot language and gathering signatures, leading to a series of bitter legal battles that all, ultimately, were decided in favor of abortion rights advocates. (Pauly, 11/5)

Arizonans approved a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, according to a call by the Associated Press. Since 2022, Arizona has enforced a law banning abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. Proposition 139 will amend the state constitution to guarantee abortions access up to the point of fetal viability — around 24 weeks. The measure also allows exceptions for abortions beyond the point of viability to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person. (Davis-Young, 11/6)