“Your Body Belongs to You — Not the Church, Not the State,” reads a new billboard placed by FFRF Action Fund in the Orlando, Fla., area in support of Amendment 4, the vitally important Nov. 5 ballot initiative to overturn Florida’s draconian abortion ban.
FFRF Action Fund isn’t just expressing the views of its advocates, but has gifted a total of nearly $55,000 among 11 abortion referendum advocacy groups courageously working to overturn bans and/or enshrine the right to reproductive liberty in state constitutions. (Amounts varied depending on rules in the state.)
“Our advocates are committed to reproductive rights, which should be no surprise, as surveys and polls have found that atheists are the strongest supporters of abortion rights by religious identification,” comments FFRF Action Fund President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We believe that neither the church nor the state should be intruding on that most private and personal decision of if, when or whether to prevent, continue or end a pregnancy.”
Gaylor added that the FFRF Action Fund Board was in unanimous agreement to support the referendum campaigns, and is grateful for the awe-inspiring work represented by the collection of hundreds of thousands of signatures overall. In states where bans are in place, the groups have had, in many instances, to overcome multiple court or other challenges, and nefarious schemes to misrepresent the referendum language.
Polls have shown that atheists are the single group most supportive of abortion rights, at 91 percent, with agnostics close behind at 83 percent. This compares to 77 percent of Jewish people and 76 percent of Buddhist. “Nonreligious Americans are the new abortion voters,” reads the headline of a FiveThirtyEight article. FFRF’s 2024 membership survey shows 98 percent in support of abortion rights.
FFRF Action Fund has donated to groups in 11 states. Initiatives will be on the ballot in 10 states, but the fund also gave $5,000 to Arkansans for Limited Government, which fought hard to get its protections on the ballot. In August, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled against the group in rejecting signed petitions. The group has incurred legal expenses and plans to persevere in the future to overturn the state’s harsh ban.
The groups successfully getting referenda on the ballot and receiving major support from FFRF Action Fund are:
• Arizona for Abortion Access, which received $4,900 from FFRF Action Fund to support Proposition 139. The Arizona Supreme Court in April notoriously reinstated an abortion ban from 1864 that predated statehood. The legislature quickly repealed that statute. Abortion is currently banned at 15 weeks with other restrictions. Proposition 139 would prevent the state from banning abortion until viability, and would allow later abortions to protect a woman’s physical or mental health.
• Coloradans for Protective Reproductive Freedom, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Colorado Amendment 79, the Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative. A “yes” vote not only supports creating a right to abortion in the state constitution but approves use of public funds for abortion care for individuals on Medicaid and requires state and local government health insurance plans to cover abortion care. Colorado bishops issued letters “to the faithful” telling them “It is imperative all faithful Catholics vote to oppose ‘The Right to Abortion.’”
• Floridians Protecting Freedom, which received $1,200 from FFRF Action Fund (with the Freedom From Religion Foundation adding $3,800 for a total of $5,000) to support Amendment 4. The ballot initiative, which needs 60 percent of voters to vote yes, is desperately needed after abortions were banned on May 1 at six weeks (before most women know they’re pregnant).
Florida clinics had been providing abortion care for most of the South. Amendment 4 would bar any prohibition, delay or restriction before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health. The Florida ACLU is preparing to sue Christian nationalist Gov. Ron DeSantis for misusing public funds to run TV ads saying the amendment “threatens women’s safety.”
• Freedom in Reproduction – Maryland, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Question 1. Although abortion is currently allowed until viability, the referendum would ensure that right continues, by enshrining the right for women to end pregnancies in the state’s Constitution.
• Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Amendment 3. Missouri has one of the most restrictive bans. The group has overcome numerous obstacles, most recently winning a last-minute reprieve after the state Supreme Court overturned a county circuit judge’s ruling against the initiative. Amendment 3 would create a right to abortion until viability, with exceptions as deemed necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
• Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Montana CI-128, the Right to Abortion Initiative. Currently, abortion is legal until viability, which is threatened by active Christian nationalism in the state. The measure would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.
• Protect Our Rights in Nebraska, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Initiative 439, the Right to Abortion Initiative. Abortions in Nebraska are currently banned after 12 weeks with some exceptions. The initiative would amend the state Constitution to protect abortion rights until viability.
• Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, which received $5,000 to support Question 6, the Right to Abortion Initiative. Although abortion is currently legal in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, the constitutional amendment would enshrine that right in the state Constitution.
• New Yorkers for Equal Rights, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Proposal 1. Although abortion is permitted until viability, referendum supporters note that 53 anti-abortion bills have been introduced into the state legislature in the past decade alone. Prop 1 would enshrine the right to abortion and close loopholes in the Constitution to bar discrimination.
• Dakotans for Health, which received $5,000 from FFRF Action Fund to support Amendment G. It would ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester, but allow regulation of abortion in the second trimester only related to the physical health of the pregnant woman. While more controversial because it is not as sweeping as the other referenda, it would help overcome much of the state’s current ban on all abortions with narrow exceptions.
It is cause for optimism that voters in all seven states that have held abortion referenda since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters.
“But we can take nothing for granted,” warns Gaylor. “The organized opposition to abortion rights, almost exclusively religious in nature, is wealthy and fierce. We urge our advocates to do everything they can to support these measures and help overcome the harmful, unjust Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe vs. Wade.”
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.