In states without abortion on the ballot, the issue still drives votes

Most states with abortion bans don't allow citizen-led ballot measures. But abortion rights supporters are still finding ways to push for change.

RALEIGH, N.C. — On a Wednesday in late October, canvassers wearing hot-pink T-shirts with messages like “abortion rights voter” and “abortion is on the ballot” fanned out across neighborhoods in Wake County and knocked on door after door.

Each had grabbed a stack of door hangers with the message “Vote for your reproductive freedom champions” above the names of candidates.

Technically, abortion is not on the ballot here. North Carolina is one of more than a dozen states that have banned or heavily restricted abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned and also don’t allow residents to bypass their state legislature to put the issue directly before voters on a statewide ballot. Ten other states currently have it on the ballot, eight through citizen-led initiatives.

But that hasn’t stopped abortion rights supporters from pushing for votes up and down the ballot. From the presidential race — where Donald Trump and Kamala Harris offer two distinct visions on the issue — to the local level, where Democrats hope to break a Republican supermajority in the state legislature.

“Nobody’s really waiting around” for a ballot measure, said Emma Horst-Martz, 28, an organizer with Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic. “We think there is a real opportunity to change the legislative makeup so it actually represents the desires and needs of North Carolinians.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/abortion-ballot-issue-states-drives-votes-rcna176436

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