This year, the presidential race has been all consuming. Less than 20 days before Election Day, practically everyone has something to say about the candidates. The ACLU has also spent time analyzing the policies and actions both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris might take if they win the White House. But, the presidential race isn’t the only important election on the ballot. That’s particularly true when it comes to abortion rights.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, the right to abortion access was left up to each state, which allowed states to ban abortion, or allowed existing abortion bans to become law, in places where Roe previously protected our rights. So, while the outcome of the presidential race could have a serious impact on abortion rights nationally, state candidates and ballot initiatives will also have a major influence over abortion access in specific states.

The ACLU is nonpartisan — we don’t tell voters who to vote for — but part of our mandate is to inform voters about electoral issues. Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s at stake for your abortion rights at the ballot box.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortion rights have prevailed in every ballot measure that has been put before voters. At the ACLU, we are working to see this trend continue.

Starting in Missouri, we’re working with our partners at Missourians for Constitutional Freedom to pass Amendment 3. If passed, this amendment would end the state's total abortion ban, which is one of the strictest in the country and includes no exceptions for rape or incest. Amendment 3 would ensure decisions about Missourians’ reproductive health care — including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care — can be made by patients and their health care providers without interference from politicians.

In Montana, the ACLU and our allies at Montanans Securing Reproductive Right are working to pass CI-128 to keep the government out of Montanans’ personal lives and secure reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, in the state constitution. In Colorado, Amendment 79, supported by the Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, would also ensure people enrolled in state health insurance plans — like state employees and Medicaid enrollees — have coverage for abortion care just like everyone else. And in Nevada, working with Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, we support Question 6, which would be a first step toward enshrining the right to reproductive freedom, including abortion, in the state’s constitution.

Credit: Lost_in_the_Midwest/ Shutterstock

In Arizona, we’re working with the Abortion Access coalition to establish a fundamental right to abortion and end the state’s dangerous abortion ban through Proposition 139. Back east, in Florida, we’re working with Floridians Protecting Freedom fighting to pass Amendment 4 to stop the state's devastating abortion ban and protect Floridians' freedom to make their own personal medical decisions without government interference.

If these ballot measures pass, nearly 45 million people will feel the impact of having abortion access restored or protected. But we’re not stopping there.

While ballot measures are an important part of our strategy, elected officials at all levels of government have a hand in either protecting or restricting abortion access. We’re engaging in key races that will impact this right. State supreme court justices can and often do find that state constitutions protect more rights than the U.S. Constitution, making them a powerful backstop against the attacks of radical, anti-abortion minorities. Even in states that have already passed ballot measures to protect abortion rights, like Michigan and Ohio, state supreme courts have a lot of power to interpret these measures.

With our Voter Education Fund, we’re focused on state supreme court races in Michigan and Montana where we’re raising awareness about the candidates’ abortion rights positions. We also have conducted voter education on reproductive rights in North Carolina’s state supreme court race.

While some state legislatures have been heavily gerrymandered to prevent laws that actually represent the will of the people, state lawmakers can still be vital in blocking abortion bans from moving forward.

In Michigan, we're working in six state house district races to educate voters on reproductive rights in the legislature and protect the hard-won rights we secured for abortion access in 2022 using ballot measures. Also, in Wisconsin, we’re educating voters on abortion rights in six legislative races. In Montana and Kansas legislatures, our focus is building a larger pro-civil rights minority that can block bans. We and the ACLU Voter Education Fund are also working in important state legislative races in North Carolina and Georgia to educate on candidate positions in those races.

This election, we are working hard to make sure you’re able to protect your rights beyond just the presidential race. Now that you know what’s at stake this cycle, find out how you can get involved by visiting aclu.org/vote. There you’ll be able to find ways to volunteer, conversation guides to share with friends and family, graphics to share on social media and merchandise to get you excited for Election Day. See you at the polls!

Paid Pol. Adv. Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., Anthony Romero Executive Director, 125 Broad St. New York, New York 10004, in coordination with Arizona for Abortion Access, Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, Floridians Protecting Freedom, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, and authorized by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. Registered agent: Anthony Romero.

Paid for by ACLU Voter Education Fund, 212-549-2500, not authorized by a candidate or candidate’s committee.

We all know that Florida wouldn’t be what it is without Latinos. As immigrants and immigrant-descended Hispanic Americans, we have become the backbone of Florida’s economy, culture, and development. My family is one small piece of that. 

I was raised in Broward County by my Dominican family who moved here from New York City. But as a third-year Florida International University Panther, I have some Miami in me too. It wasn’t always this way, but I’m proud to be Dominican-American-Floridian.

Since we arrived in Spring Hill, all the way up in Hernando County, my mother and father have done nothing but work and enrich the lives of those in their newfound community. Although she was not a fluent English speaker, my mom still found ways to build connections with our neighbors. Whether she was offering to carpool my classmates to school, volunteering every Sunday at our local church, or organizing bingo nights for her new friends, my mom has never ceased to make the most out of even the most adverse situations. 

My father, who arrived here with an invalidated engineering degree, worked his way up from sleeping on his cousin’s couch in Tampa to helping construct the Fort Lauderdale Airport’s new runway. My parents have left their mark on every small town and palm tree-dotted suburb they’ve found themselves in, even when others may not have welcomed their presence. Yet, they are only a small fraction of the influence that the Latino community has had in our Sunshine State.

And so, the Latino community was my foundation and launched me to a place where I could thrive the way I have today. However, as I grew older, I found myself finding a different but irreplaceable kind of love and support in the South Florida LGBTQ+ community. It was thanks to my great friends, who have become family, I grew up feeling comfortable enough to explore myself more authentically, coming to terms with my queer and non-binary gender identity. I’ve always been queer, but I wouldn’t have felt safe enough to be that if it wasn’t for them. And just like the Latino community, the queer community has contributed so much to the history, culture, and creation of Florida. The list of people I’d like to thank is so long, so I’ll save it for another blog post. 

Amidst the onslaught of attacks and infringements on our rights, both Latinos and LGBTQ+ folks, I find solidarity in spaces that embrace both of our identities. Too often are queer folks shunned in Latino spaces, and well-established predominantly white queer spaces lack invitation for Latinos. In a time when we are facing censorship and repression from a government that doesn’t look like us or represent us, we must uplift each other by showing up. 

That was the main inspiration for me when I organized “Noche de Resistencia” — an event that creates space to celebrate both the Latinos and queer folks of Miami. I was intentional in picking Club Tipico Dominicano, a family business owned by a Dominican woman that has become a staple in the city. I was intentional in supporting local Latina drag queens, who serve their community weekly by representing their identities and cultures fearlessly, bringing joy to a place where so many live in uncertainty. And I was intentional in linking these worlds to the fight for Amendment 4, the fight for full bodily autonomy and equitable access to healthcare for all pregnant people in Florida.

These issues are not separate, despite how often they are portrayed to be. They are deeply intertwined in our country and our state’s history, and we all win when we join together in the face of injustice. We cannot win these fights alone, and I hope that moments like “Noche de Resistencia” remind us of that.

If you are in Miami and want to join us, you can sign up here. Together, we can celebrate our Hispanic heritage and embrace our queerness. Together we can let our joy, in the face of oppression, serve as an act of resistance.