Supporters of abortion-rights ballot measures in Nevada and elsewhere have significantly outraised their opponents, accumulating nearly eight times as much funding, according to data compiled by Open Secrets and analyzed by the Associated Press.
With just weeks remaining before the Tuesday, November 5 elections, the groups have raised nearly $108 million compared to $14 million collected by anti-abortion advocates. However, the financial advantage may not be enough to secure victory in battleground states like Florida, where the campaign has become the most expensive of the nine state-level efforts to enshrine abortion rights into constitutions.
While abortion rights supporters hold a financial lead, Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, cautioned that late-stage spending by opponents could still influence the outcomes. Hall pointed out that the large fundraising gap provides no guarantee against last-minute financial pushes by those against the amendments.
The push for these amendments comes after the Supreme Court 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. While there are no exact financial numbers for the state, abortion is legal in the State of Nevada, governed by NRS 442.250.
Any person in Nevada who is pregnant has the legal right to choose to have an abortion when performed by a licensed physician within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy and after 24 weeks, where the physician has reasonable cause to believe an abortion is necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person. You do not have to be a Nevada resident to receive abortion care in the state.
Expanding on NRS 442.250, in 2019, then-Governor Sisolak signed into law Senate Bill 179, the Trust Nevada Women Act, which decriminalized medication abortions and removed antiquated informed consent laws and other barriers to accessing reproductive health care.
The financial muscle has translated into more extensive advertising campaigns in Missouri and Montana.
In Missouri, abortion-rights groups raised over $5 million and spent $11 million on ads supporting their measure to overturn the state ban on abortion. Meanwhile, opponents spent less than $50,000. The same trend is evident in Montana, where pro-amendment groups lead in ad spending by a similar margin.
In Nebraska, while abortion-rights groups have raised more money, opponents have spent slightly more on advertisements. Notably, Nevada and South Dakota have yet to release their contribution totals for this election cycle, which could shift the dynamics in these states.
Supporters of these ballot measures face additional costs that their opponents do not, particularly the expenses tied to signature drives and legal battles to get the questions on the ballots. In many instances, pro-abortion rights groups have had to spend on legal fees defending their initiatives, as anti-abortion groups, like the Thomas More Society, have filed legal challenges without being required to disclose their campaign finances.
Florida stands out as a particularly challenging battleground. In addition to requiring 60 percent voter approval for the measure to pass—higher than in most other states—the Florida Republican Party has been actively opposing the amendment.
While abortion-rights groups have raised over $60 million, the state GOP has spent $9.6 million on ads urging voters to reject the measure. Although the spending by the two sides seems lopsided, ad-tracking data suggests that anti-abortion ads have reached a wider audience, putting opponents in a strong position.
Adding to this, Florida has used taxpayer money to maintain a website warning that the abortion-rights amendment “threatens women’s safety.” Despite lawsuits from abortion-rights advocates to take down the site, a judge recently ruled that the state could continue using it, delivering a setback for the pro-amendment side.
On a national scale, the abortion-rights side has far more donors, with more than 94,000 compared to fewer than 2,600 for their opponents. Contributors include Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and The Fairness Project.
The largest individual donor is Marsha Zlatin Laufer, who has given over $9 million to support the Florida measure. Conversely, anti-abortion efforts have seen contributions from figures like U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and his mother, Marlene Ricketts, each donating at least $1 million in Nebraska.
In Nebraska, the ballot measures have resulted in nearly even fundraising on both sides, with between $3 million and $4 million raised for each campaign. The state has two competing measures—one would expand access to abortion, while the other would enshrine the current ban on most abortions after 12 weeks.
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