10 states with abortion referendums in 2024
Maryland
Voters in Maryland will have the opportunity to weigh in on a ballot measure that would amend the state’s constitution to read, “Every person, as a central component of an individual’s rights to liberty and equality, has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”
The amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Question 1, would also clarify that “The state may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge the right unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute identifies Maryland as one of 13 states that protect the right to abortion prior to viability.
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Two polls conducted in 2022, long before the ballot measure was official, found widespread support for establishing a right to abortion in the Maryland Constitution.
A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll sampling the opinions of 810 registered voters conducted between Sept. 22 and 27, 2022, found that 78% of respondents supported establishing a constitutional right to abortion while 16% opposed the idea.
Similarly, a survey of 982 likely voters conducted by Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore from Oct. 20-23, 2022 revealed that 71% of Marylanders supported a hypothetical measure to establish a constitutional right to abortion while only 19% opposed it.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
