Abortion Rights Win Big as Voters Torch Trump-Backed Redistricting

Missouri voters refused to put abortion restrictions back into the state constitution, rejecting a Republican-backed amendment that would have banned most abortions except in medical emergencies, cases of fetal anomalies, or rape and incest reported within 12 weeks. Two years ago, Missouri became the first state in the country to undo an existing abortion ban — and Tuesday's vote confirmed that shift. Advocates led by national progressive groups dramatically outspent abortion opponents to sink the measure, which would also have barred certain medical procedures for transgender minors.

The wins kept coming. Virginia approved an amendment enshrining a 'fundamental right to reproductive freedom,' covering the first two trimesters along with contraception and fertility care. Nevada locked in a right to abortion until fetal viability, generally after 21 weeks, after voters gave the amendment its required second approval following an initial yes in 2024. It wasn't a clean sweep: Idaho defeated a measure that would have written abortion rights into state law, where the current ban allows the procedure only to save a pregnant woman's life or, in reported rape or incest cases, during the first trimester.

Since the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide right to abortion in 2022, voters in more than one-fifth of states have passed ballot measures protecting reproductive rights. Florida and South Dakota turned back similar measures two years ago.

Redistricting got its own referendum. Nine states are running the midterms on new congressional maps after a rare burst of mid-decade redrawing pushed by President Donald Trump. In Missouri, voters scrapped a GOP map designed to pick up an extra Kansas City-area House seat — the same districts used in the August primary but blocked by courts from a repeat run without public approval. Maryland went the other way, approving a constitutional amendment that could unlock new districts for 2028 after Democratic proponents, backed by former president Barack Obama, urged a 'yes' vote to 'stop Trump.' A Colorado citizen initiative, still on the ballot, would bar 2028 redistricting from favoring one party and require sign-off from an independent commission and the state Supreme Court.

Florida homeowners scored one of the year's biggest property tax breaks. The approved amendment triples the current $50,000 exemption on a primary residence next year for non-school taxes, climbing to $250,000 by 2028. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called the special legislative session that put it on the ballot, but local officials are warning about cuts to police, fire departments, libraries and parks as revenue dries up.

On transgender issues, Nebraska voters added existing medical restrictions to the state constitution, and Arizona extended public school sports restrictions to private schools. Colorado and Washington also weighed limits on transgender athletes or medical procedures, with a second Colorado question targeting some medical treatments for minors. Most Republican-led states already bar transgender women and girls from female school sports teams, and Trump's administration has been pressing for wider restrictions, especially for youth. Voter ID also split the country: the California measure requiring government-issued ID or its last four digits for mail ballots failed after opponents tied it to Trump, and Colorado voters rejected a similar mail-voting requirement. Ohio, North Carolina and Nevada all passed their own ID amendments. North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah turned back efforts to raise amendment and initiative thresholds to 60 percent, while Missouri voters made it harder for lawmakers to rewrite citizen-approved initiatives, requiring an 80 percent vote in both chambers.