The South and Midwest often serve as key battlegrounds in discussion on the U.S. abortion landscape. With abortion at the forefront of the 2024 election and potentially two swing states, Nevada and Arizona, projected to vote on reproductive rights at the polls, the Southwest offers a broader perspective on national political trends and how Americans feel about bodily autonomy.
Nevada is the latest state in the Southwest, joining Colorado and potentially Arizona, voting to enshrine abortion rights into their state constitutions in November.
The Nevada Secretary of State announced the initiative qualified for the ballot on June 8, after the petition gathered 127,865 verified signatures, more than the 102,362 required.
Though abortion is legal in the state, advocates say that permanent protections are needed in the wake of attacks on reproductive healthcare in the U.S. This amendment would protect abortion until fetal viability, when a fetus could survive outside of the uterus, but allows exceptions past that point for lifesaving treatment.
“We are essentially doubling down on what the state of Nevada already has,” Lindsey Harmon, president of the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, told Reckon.
Earlier this year, a poll of 829 registered voters in Nevada by Noble Predictive Insights found that 49% of voters said abortion should be legal “only under certain circumstances,” while 45% said it should be legal “under any circumstance,” according to the Center Square. While polling reflects constituent support on the issue, the initiative faces an additional burden to be enshrined. Per state law, to amend the constitution voters must approve the ballot question in two consecutive elections, meaning abortion will be up for vote in Nevada again in 2026.
“We are looking to mobilize people, particularly young people and voters of color. We are going to talk to folks that maybe haven’t voted for before,” said Harmon. “This is a nonpartisan effort to get both Republicans and Democrats alike to come out and take issue on this.”
The landscape of abortion protection in the Southwest could be shaken up in the upcoming election as more states focus on constitutionally protecting their rights. Earlier this month, the Arizona for Abortion Access campaign announced it filed 823,685 signatures, more than double the 383,923 required to appear on the ballot in Arizona.
“This is the most signatures ever submitted by a citizens’ initiative in Arizona history,” Arizona for Abortion Access communications director Dawn Penich said at a July 3 press conference. “To put that into context that means one in every five Arizona voters signed this petition.”
Arizonans have seen legislative back and forth for months on reproductive rights. In April, a pre-statehood 1864 law came into effect which banned most abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Local lawmakers repealed the law on April 30, and Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it on May 2, according to Attorney General Kris Mayes.
“I’ve heard from doctors who were unsure if they would wind up in a jail cell for simply doing their job, women who told me they didn’t know if it was safe to start a family here in Arizona,” She said that day. “These excruciating conversations are exactly why I have made one thing clear, very clear: This ban needs to be repealed.”
Last week, Arizona for Abortion Access filed a lawsuit against a Republican-led local legislative committee who is looking to include language in voter publicity pamphlets, referring to a fetus as an “unborn human being.” These pamphlets are used by voters to learn more about the ballot issues they are voting on, according to the Associated Press.
Chris Love, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona senior advisor and Arizona for Abortion Access spokesperson said these publicity pamphlets are mailed to Arizonans and legally required to be as neutral as possible.
“Our attorneys made a very clear argument that using ‘unborn human being’ is something that’s used by anti-abortion activists repeatedly, and it’s not neutral. And so we want to be sure that Arizona voters get the framing that they deserve,” Love told Reckon.
Phrases like this are categorized by abortion advocates and health experts as “fetal personhood.” In 2022, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a statement condemning fetal personification laws and policies, which seek to give legal rights to fetuses or embryos.
Love said that once the language is finalized and the signatures are verified, the Arizona for Abortion Access is aiming to reach communities in every corner of the state, especially focusing on Indigenous and Latinx voters, who made up a quarter of Arizona voters in the 2020 election.
“They’re the largest growing community of voters here in the state of Arizona. So we’re making sure that we’re communicating with them in both Spanish and English, whichever their preference is.”
Like Harmon, Love finds that voters of all parties want to be in control of their own bodies.
“What we’re finding is that people, regardless of their political affiliation, really resonate with our message that pregnant patients should have the freedom to make personal health care decisions without political interference,” said Love.
The Southwest encompasses a diverse range of urban and rural areas, with unique demographic compositions, including significant Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant populations. According to Pew Research Center, in 2019 half of the U.S. Latino population lived in the Southwest border states alone . Examining abortion access here provides insights into how these diverse communities are affected by reproductive rights policies.
Nevada and Arizona have distinct political environments that differ from the often-discussed South and Midwest. These states have a mix of conservative and progressive influences, making them key battlegrounds for reproductive rights. Understanding how abortion policies play out in these states can offer a broader perspective on national trends.
The Southwest is home to many marginalized communities that may face additional hurdles in accessing reproductive healthcare. Focusing on this region allows for an in-depth examination of how policies disproportionately impact these groups and the intersectionality of reproductive justice.
Enshrining rights in these states would broaden access in the region
As these states seek to ensure abortion is constitutionally protected, the Southwest sits as a checkerboard of abortion access. Colorado and New Mexico act as abortion travel destinations, for the South and bordering states with bans, with New Mexico performing 15,070 more abortions from 2020 to 2023, an increase of 256%, according to Guttmacher.
Wait times at clinics in Colorado reached up to 28 days in response to the post-Dobbs demand which brought double the amount of out-of-state patients, according to KUNC. A report published Thursday by the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell and Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer reported clinics in both Nevada and New Mexico also experienced extended wait times due to the influx of patients, but have expanded capacity by hiring more staff and utilizing telehealth.
Arizona currently has a 15-week restriction on abortion with exceptions for life-threatening situations, though there has been some uncertainty as to when that applies, leaving doctors concerned and patients fleeing to other states for care. Love says that if this initiative passes in November it would make a difference for abortion access where it’s needed.
“What we would win here in Arizona by enshrining abortion rights in our Constitution would be that we would be another state where folks who live in places without access can come to you, but more importantly, Arizonans get to stay here and get the health care that they need and they deserve.”