Abortion Amendment Funding Gaps Grow as 2024 Election Looms

Abortion amendments are on the ballot in ten states this fall and recent filings demonstrate that funding gaps are widening.

Nationwide, abortion activists are reporting more than $174 million in contributions compared to pro-life advocates whose contributions total around $19 million collectively, according to recent filings.

Shockingly, abortion funding is nine times greater than that of current pro-life efforts.

Funding isn’t the only element of a successful campaign, but it is a very important component. Generally speaking, those who have the most money can control the narrative in a campaign and those who control the narrative tend to more effectively influence voters.

As it stands today, Florida appears to be the state that will see the most financial engagement by both abortion activists and the pro-life community.

Abortion supporters have raised more than $76.4 million compared to $9.9 million by pro-life advocates to oppose the amendment.

Both the abortion and the pro-life communities see Florida as a bellwether state. If the abortion industry can get Floridians to support its extreme abortion amendment, where at least 60% of the voting electorate must approve of the amendment, then they can likely do it anywhere.

Of course, every state is different, and its voting population is unique, but Florida will either build momentum for the abortion industry in advancing abortion law through constitutional amendments, or it will stop them in their tracks and potentially be the first state in the nation to defeat an abortion amendment since Roe’s reversal in 2022.

Florida currently has a heartbeat law in place protecting preborn babies and their mothers from abortion. If the pro-life law falls, approximately 50,000 babies will be aborted annually.

With so much riding on Florida’s abortion amendment it’s no surprise that the abortion industry and pro-life community have staked their claim to Florida.

Arizona, according to the secretary of state, has the next highest reported contributions by the abortion lobby with $32.6 million to support the abortion amendment compared to the pro-life effort which has raised $1.2 million to oppose it.

Missouri has the third highest funding from abortion activists with about $22 million raised compared to approximately $840,000 by the pro-life community to defeat the measure.

Montana has the fourth highest amount of abortion funding with $16.4 million contributed by abortion supporters and approximately $191,000 by pro-life advocates to oppose the initiative.

Nevada is fifth highest in abortion funding with $9.4 million raised as compared to pro-life organizations reporting no spending in the state.

Colorado has the sixth highest funding for an abortion amendment at more than $8.8 million contributed by abortion activists and about $263,000 by the pro-life community to defeat the measure.

Abortion supporters in New York have raised $5.1 million for the abortion amendment, while pro-life advocates have collected about $369,000 to oppose the initiative.

Nebraska is eighth in terms of money raised by abortion activists and the only state where the pro-life community has out raised abortion efforts. As of the latest filing report, contributions to the pro-life campaign were at $7.1 million compared to only $3.6 million by abortion activists.

Nebraska is also unique because there are two abortion-related measures on the ballot.

The pro-abortion amendment would allow abortion for all nine months of pregnancy, while the pro-life amendment would keep Nebraska’s current law protecting preborn children at 12 weeks and beyond, while allowing for greater life protections going forward.

If Nebraska voters approve both abortion-related amendments, then the one with the most votes wins.

Maryland has the ninth highest amount of abortion funding with $752,000 contributed by abortion supporters and approximately $159,000 by pro-life advocates to defeat the amendment.

Finally, South Dakota’s abortion funding is least among the ten states, but that might not be the case for long. Financial reports were last submitted by the state-based campaigns in May and the next report is due October 21. As of the May filing, pro-life advocates were slightly ahead in contributions raised to defeat the abortion amendment, at about $366,000, compared to abortion funding which was approximately $350,000.

As election day grows nearer, we can expect to see these numbers grow significantly.

The Daily Citizen will continue to track developments in abortion campaign financing and provide updates.

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