Marylanders voted to enshrine reproductive rights in the state’s constitution on Tuesday.
More than 74 percent of voters supported The Reproductive Rights Referendum, listed as Question 1 on Maryland’s ballot, when the Associated Press called the race Tuesday at 9:28 p.m. The ballot question would amend the state’s contribution to protect the “right to reproductive freedom,” including access to abortion, birth control and other forms of contraception.
The referendum prohibits the state from infringing on a person’s right to prevent, continue or end their pregnancy, unless doing so can be “justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
[Marylanders will vote on reproductive rights ballot question in 2024 election]
The referendum’s passage comes more than two years after a Supreme Court ruling in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and removed federal protections for abortion.
After the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill in 2023 that allowed Marylanders to vote on a referendum to enshrine reproductive rights into the state’s constitution.
Maryland was one of 11 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida and South Dakota, with abortion-related measures on its November ballot.
Maryland state law has already protected abortion since 1992 when voters supported a ballot question to codify Roe v. Wade. More than 61 percent of voters answered yes to the 1992 ballot question.
