The Mount Rushmore State ballot initiative would have protected abortion during the first trimester, or first 13 weeks, of pregnancy. Safeguards have also been incorporated in emergencies, including in the event that a third trimester pregnancy poses a risk to the life of a pregnant person. The measure would have limited the regulations that could be imposed on second-trimester pregnancies and stipulated that the government could only intervene in a manner “proportionate to the physical health of the pregnant woman.”

In Nebraska, two abortion-related measures were on the ballot at the same time, one for and one against. In the early hours of Wednesday morning the Associated Press called the race for the ban, reporting that state residents voted for an amendment banning abortion after the first three months of pregnancy – effectively reaffirming state law – while rejecting a proposal that would The right to an abortion would have been guaranteed until it was feasible.

The three states that failed to pass abortion initiatives on Tuesday indicate a slight shift toward increasingly conservative attitudes across the country. In the two years since the fall of the Supreme Court Roe v. WadeAbortion efforts won in every state where the issue was on the ballot. But Florida's effort in particular faced major difficulties: To be included in the state constitution, it required 60 percent of the vote to succeed.