Voters across the country cast their ballot last Tuesday, November 5th deciding on numerous political races and ballot issues up and down the ticket. There is a lot to take in with a mixed bag of ballot and electoral wins and losses. Below, we are recapping the opportunities, challenges, and hard work we foresee across the new Administration, in Congress, and in the states.
Federal Election Outcomes
We are devastated to enter another Trump presidency. We are mourning what a second Trump administration means for our collective safety, health, and well-being. This administration aims to punish our communities by attacking sexual and reproductive health care, criminalizing patients and providers, and enabling racist, xenophobic violence across the country. Despite the detrimental outcome, our work continues. President Trump campaigned on not signing a national abortion ban and we will demand that he keep his word. We will work to maintain the hard-won protections we achieved in the past four years, such as the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act, the Section 1557 non-discrimination protections in the ACA, and the HIPAA privacy protections for reproductive health care. We are committed to pushing back against attacks on gender-affirming care, other protections for LGTBQ+ people and their families, and the providers who serve them.
Newly elected representatives are joining Congress in January. Notably, Delaware elected Sarah McBride who will make history as the first openly transgender member of Congress. Angela Alsobrooks (MD) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE) are also making Senate history as the first Black women to serve together in the Senate. After flipping seats in key states like Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, Republicans gained control of the Senate and the House. While the anti-sexual and reproductive health majority in Congress creates additional challenges for introducing and passing federal legislation for our communities, our advocacy will not stop.
State Election Outcomes
With 50 states, we can’t cover all the outcomes, but we want to highlight a few results that caught our attention.
In North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein won the race for Governor and Republicans lost their supermajority in the North Carolina House! Josh Stein’s win prevented a Republican trifecta, and while Republicans retain a supermajority in the Senate (meaning they hold two-thirds of the seats) and still hold a majority of seats in the House, the loss of their supermajority in both chambers is noteworthy. The supermajority is what allowed North Carolina to enact a 12-week abortion ban with additional restrictions, and numerous anti-LGBTQ bills this year. Now, when the Governor vetoes a bill, it is more difficult for the legislature to overturn that veto.
In Wisconsin, Democrats gained four seats in the state Senate! While Republicans will retain the majority, these flipped seats chip away at that majority and may signal a chance for Democrats to gain more Senate seats in future elections. This was the first election under a new district map, drawn by Governor Evers and passed by lawmakers this year, that made it equally possible for either party to win election.
In addition to electing lawmakers, voters across numerous states also elected state judges. In Michigan, Democrats retained and grew their majority on the state Supreme Court. The Michigan Supreme Court has been essential in recent years for protecting reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and voting rights. Neighboring state Ohio elected Republicans in all three Supreme Court races, flipping two seats and increasing the Republican majority on the bench from 4-3 to 6-1. These results are critical as the Ohio Supreme Court is set to rule on a variety of issues, including reproductive rights.
Ballot Measure Outcomes
In addition to electing federal and state policymakers, voters decided on numerous ballot measures including abortion and reproductive rights, voting rights and democracy, economic justice, racial justice, immigrant justice and more. Each of these issues is critical to achieving Reproductive Justice.
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Abortion and reproductive rights were directly on the ballot in ten states – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota. Each of these states, though different in their approach, had the opportunity to protect abortion in their state constitution.
Across the country, voters chose to protect abortion and reproductive health care —once again sending a loud and clear message that abortion is a winning issue. In the current legal landscape, these wins are critical first steps to protecting and restoring meaningful access to reproductive health care. We also know that in a number of states, these ballot initiatives used legal language that is stigmatizing and will create legal challenges for those who need abortion care later in pregnancy. People deserve to be able to make decisions about their own reproductive health needs.
In Colorado, voters approved a measure to enshrine the right to abortion without limits into their state constitution and simultaneously voted to repeal the states ban on public funding for abortion! This huge win means that Colorado may soon be able to use public funds to help patients access abortion care, including patients who are enrolled in Medicaid. Voters in Maryland also passed an abortion rights measure that does not include limits on care.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers voted to enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment into their state constitution. This amendment will have far reaching benefits beyond reproductive rights and abortion access.
Voters in Arizona, Missouri, Montana and Nevada also approved their ballot measures which protects abortion until viability. Nevada voters will see this measure on their ballot again in 2026 – Nevada requires a constitutional amendment to be approved twice by voters before it can be enacted.
In addition to these state measures, residents in Amarillo, Texas defeated Prop A! This anti-abortion initiative would have established Amarillo as a “sanctuary city for the unborn.” These anti-abortion initiatives further threaten reproductive health care in a state that has already banned abortion.
While we are celebrating the victories in states where voters chose to protect abortion and reproductive health care, we are also holding close the communities who will continue to live under restrictive abortion bans. Florida and South Dakota – we see you. Nebraska – you deserve so much more than a 12-week abortion ban.
LGBTQ+ Rights
Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii voted to remove outdated constitutional language that do not align with federal protections, choosing to repeal state bans on same-sex marriage. California’s Proposition 6 repeals a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and establishes right to marriage. Colorado removed their constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and Hawaii removed constitutional language that granted the legislature the authority to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.
While the Obergefell decision created a federal right to same-sex marriage in the United States, we know all too well that anti-LGBTQ advocates have LGBTQ+ rights their list of targets. Enshrining fundamental human rights in state constitutions is a meaningful way to ensure greater protections for state residents. We applaud these states for repealing harmful anti-LGBTQ language from their constitution.
Voting Rights & Democracy
The right to vote is an essential component of democracy. The right to participate in fair elections and elect policymakers who share and represent our values is one of the key ways we determine our future.
Voters in Nevada passed Question 7 to establish a constitutional amendment that requires photo ID verification when voting in person and verification using the last four digits of their driver’s license of social security number if voting by mail. Voter ID laws are the backbone of voter suppression and disproportionately impacts voters of color.
While it is already a law that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections, eight states passed constitutional amendments banning non-citizens from voting. The success of these ballot measures in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin reflects the power of gross misinformation and fear mongering of voter fraud – something that has been repeatedly debunked.
Good news out of Arizona: voters defeated a ballot measure that would have made it more difficult for citizen-led ballot petitions to qualify for the ballot. The measure would have increased the signature requirement necessary for citizen-petitions to qualify for the ballot and require signatures to meet the new threshold in all legislative districts, not just statewide. This would mean one legislative district could prevent the rest of the state from having the opportunity to vote on a measure. By rejecting this measure, Arizonians can continue citizen-led efforts to improve their state constitution without partisan intervention.
Racial Justice
Californians passed a “tough-on-crime” proposition that enacts harsher penalties for retail theft, property crimes, and drug offenses. Expanding the ways people are criminalized is not a crime prevention tool, but a method of state violence. Substance use is often a factor in child removal cases and criminal cases associated with pregnancy outcomes. Black, Indigenous, people of color, and low-income people face higher rates of criminalization and are at the greatest risk of harm.
Further, Californians rejected a proposition to ban forced prison labor. The failed provision would have made work assignments voluntary and allowed incarcerated people to prioritize rehabilitation. Incarcerated workers in California are predominantly Latino and Black and receive little to no income for their forced labor. Although California has long been a leader in reproductive rights policies, reproductive freedom is unattainable without divestment from carceral logic.
While these outcomes in California are disappointing, voters in Nevada overwhelmingly chose to repeal harmful language from their state constitution that allows for slavery and involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime.
Immigrant Justice
Voters in Arizona approved Proposition 314. This anti-immigration measure will give state and local law enforcement agencies the authority to detain and deport individuals for undocumented border crossing and increase the use of a federal database to determine immigration status for employment and public benefits eligibility. This legislatively referred ballot measure seeks to harass and threaten immigrant communities with fears of criminalization.
Economic Justice
Election night was an important night for economic justice as at least four states voted on measures impacting minimum wage. Unfortunately, voters in California rejected a measure to increase the minimum wage to $18. Meanwhile, voters in Alaska and Missouri voted to increase minimum wage to $15 and also voted to require employers to offer paid sick leave. In more good news, Arizonans rejected a measure that would have reduced the minimum wage for tipped workers!
It would be an understatement to describe this as a difficult time. Let’s be honest: we are riddled with anxiety and fear for what this incoming Administration will mean for our collective rights, health, and well-being. And while we move through the grieving process, we remain unwavering in our commitment and fight for bodily autonomy. We are proud to stand alongside our network of physicians who are showing up for and serving their patients and community with love every day. Love, compassion, and care for one another will sustain us. We will never abandon you.
Adrienne Ramcharan
Assistant Director, State Policy
Natasha Rappazzo
Reproductive Justice Fellow