Abortion Is on the Ballot in Four States Tuesday. Protect the Child, Care for the Mother and Tell Voters the Whole Truth

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

Voters in four states will decide abortion questions on Tuesday. Idaho, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia all have abortion-related measures on the November ballot, NPR reported, in the latest round of state votes since the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision overturned federal abortion protections and left each state to make its own policy.

Missouri is the only state voting this year on removing abortion protections already on the books. Its measure would repeal the 2024 amendment that guaranteed abortion access through fetal viability and replace it with a ban with exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies and pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Abortions for rape and incest would have to occur before 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to NPR.

Missouri: same number, opposite vote

The 2024 and 2026 measures share the same title, Amendment 3. A yes vote in 2024 supported adding abortion protections to the state constitution, while a no vote in 2026 would keep them. Reagan Barklage, a vice president of Students for Life of America, said she has had to remind anti-abortion voters while canvassing that they should vote yes this year. "People need to be very clear on what they're voting for," she said, NPR reported.

The Republican-led legislature crafted a single question that includes both a near-total ban on abortion and prohibitions on so-called gender transition treatments for minors. Much of the advertising for the measure mentions only the ban on those treatments for minors, which would strengthen bans already in state law, NPR reported.

State records show only 150 abortions were performed in Missouri in 2021, down from 5,772 in 2011, according to NPR.

Nevada, Virginia and Idaho

Nevada voters backed a constitutional abortion amendment with 64% two years ago, but state law requires two majority votes. The measure would not change Nevada's existing law allowing abortions up to 24 weeks after conception, but it would require voter approval of any new ban in two elections. In Virginia, where abortion is already allowed until 28 weeks, voters will decide whether to write those rights into the state constitution, NPR reported.

Idaho's Proposition 1 would allow abortion up to fetal viability, which doctors say is about 24 weeks, and in medical emergencies that threaten the woman's health. Idaho's current law allows abortion to prevent the death of a pregnant woman or in cases of rape or incest documented by law enforcement. Since the ban took effect, Idaho has lost 94 physicians who practice obstetrics and gynecology, and three hospitals have closed their maternity wards, PBS News reported.

Republican state Sen. Camille Blaylock opposes the measure. "Every word in our current law has been precisely thought about, debated, and put there on purpose," she said. Blaylock and more than a dozen legislative candidates have promised to vote to overturn the initiative if it passes. Republican state Sen. Jim Woodward, who voted for the ban, said women's health care has gotten worse in his region. "I don't support elective abortions, but we need to get our policy back in line with the people of Idaho," he said, PBS News reported.

For another set of measures on Tuesday's ballots, see Colorado, Washington Vote on Girls' Sports Ballot Measures.

Opinion: Protect the child, care for the mother, and tell voters the whole truth

The psalmist wrote to God, "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." That is where I start. A child in the womb is a human life made by God, and no ballot measure can change that. A vote to write abortion into a state constitution through 24 or 28 weeks is a vote to put that life outside the law's protection for most of a pregnancy. I cannot support that, and I would vote no in Nevada, Virginia and Idaho.

But pro-life Christians must also be honest about the hard cases. When a state loses about a third of its OB-GYNs and hospitals stop delivering babies, mothers and babies both suffer. A Republican senator who voted for Idaho's ban now says care has gotten worse. That deserves an answer, not a shrug. Being pro-life means clear medical exceptions doctors can trust, strong maternity care in rural towns, and real help for families facing a devastating diagnosis.

Missouri raises a different concern. I agree with the goal of protecting unborn children and protecting minors from irreversible procedures. But the legislature bundled two big questions into one vote under the same number voters just used for the opposite purpose, and much of the advertising mentions only one of them. Good causes do not need confusing ballots. Voters should know exactly what they are deciding.

Whatever your state, read the full ballot language before you vote. Then vote for life, and keep working for mothers long after the polls close.