The 2024 election was a broad sweep for President-Elect Donald Trump, but the Pro-Life Generation (PLG) also saw decisive wins for life in abortion referendum states, including Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska.  

READ: Students for Life Action Celebrates the Defeat of Abortion Ballot Initiative in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota as Life WINS; But in States with New Mini-Roes, “We’ll be back” 

The keyword is decisive, as the grassroots pro-life movement consistently and persistently pointed out the confusing language in Florida’s Amendment 4, South Dakota’s Amendment G, and Nebraska’s Initiative 439, which would have enshrined abortion up until the moment of birth if passed. Clarity delivered life to preborn lives in these states.  

Florida’s Amendment 4 FAILED 

With 48.2% of Floridians voting “no” on Amendment 4, which means it failed to meet the 60% vote threshold to pass, Florida’s six-week law stayed in effect, which is estimated to save over 50,000 preborn lives. This victory is in part thanks to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts and the education from our sister organization, Students for Life Action (SFLAction), who did the following outstanding work:  

• Sent 424,919 personal text messages.  
• Made 67,972 phone calls.   
• Distributed over 20,000 pieces of pro-life literature.   
• Knocked on over 11,000 doors during student deployments.     

Additionally, Our Florida targeted digital ads were seen 1,040,461 times, with 3,859 conversations resulting in 1,954 conversions of previously pro-abortion Florida voters, along with hosting 16 “Abortion on the Ballot” Campus Tour stops, with an 8% minds-change rate and a 15% activation rate from 851 conversations.  

South Dakota’s Amendment G FAILED  

Over half of South Dakota citizens, 58.6%, rejected abortion extremism, keeping abortion illegal. This is a tremendous win for the pro-life movement of future South Dakotans yet to be born. Again, SFLAction went all gas no breaks in our efforts to educate and inform voters, including:  

• Sent 52,152 personal text messages. 
• Made 4,881 phone calls.     
• Distributed 4,000 pieces of pro-life literature.  
• Knocked on 2,470 doors during student deployments    

Our South Dakota targeted digital ads were seen 141,326 times, generating 804 conversations and 367 conversions of previously pro-abortion South Dakota voters. Additionally, we hosted four “Abortion on the Ballot” Campus Tour stops and had 11% minds-changed rate and saw an activation rate of 16%. We averaged 50 conversations per tour stop. 

Nebraska’s Initiative 439 FAILED  

Nebraska’s abortion referendum is tricky, given that two abortion initiatives were on the ballot.  

SFLA Midwest Regional Coordinator William Anderson explains the two abortion initiatives as follows:  

“Planned Parenthood and American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) put forth Initiative 439, which would enshrine abortion in the constitution through ‘viability,” meaning all nine months of pregnancy. However, Initiative 434 was put forth to keep the initial 12-week law in Nebraska’s constitution. 

“Since both referendums deal with the same topic, the one that received the most votes will pass, even if both received 50% or more.” 

Not only did Initiative 434 go through, but it passed with 55.3%, showing that Nebraskan’s DON’T want abortion extremism. And while a 12-week abortion law isn’t ideal, a rejection of abortion up until birth is a starting point.  

An Analysis of Missouri, Montana, Arizona, and Nevada 

While there’s plenty to celebrate, some states enshrined devastating abortion laws, including Nevada, Arizona, Montana, and Missouri.  

Montana passed CI-128 with 57.8%, Nevada passed Question 6 with 63.8%, Arizona passed Proposition 139 with 61.4%, and Missouri passed Amendment 3 with 51.7%.  

There are varying reasons why these initiatives passed. First off, the abortion industry is a machine when it comes to shoveling out money for more death. The House Democratic PAC poured $100 million to make these abortion ballot referendums succeed, vastly outspending the pro-life movement. Although we were the David in a Goliath situation, sadly, some things money truly can buy. In this case, abortion supporters sold their souls and pulled out their pocketbooks for preborn death.  

But this isn’t the only factor to consider. Even though Floridians Protecting Freedom (add: to kill babies in the womb) raised $100 million, SFLAction with DeSantis’ dedicated awareness campaign stopped Amendment 4 from passing. The same could’ve happened in Missouri, where the abortion referendum passed narrowly at 51.7%. SFLAction did a tremendous amount of work in Missouri. They sent 53,910 text messages, distributed, knocked on 15, 271 doors, handed out over 20,000 pieces of pro-life literature and hosted 14 “Abortion on the Ballot” campus tour stops with a 25% activation rate from1,274 conversations.  

It’s possible with the help of political pro-life leaders, similar to Florida, Missouri could’ve been another win for the pro-life movement. Sadly, we’ll never know. Additionally, the climate can determine the outcome. It’s no surprise that pro-abortion states like Maryland, Colorado, and New York overwhelmingly passed abortion up until birth in their states. So, it is possible that people in Arizona, Montana, and Nevada still need more education and clarification on the deceiving language in these laws, which, once again, comes down to pro-life funds to deploy people and provide resources.  

Here’s what the pro-life movement can take from these abortion referendums: abortion still exists in the minds of many Americans, but abortion extremism remains unpopular, as this wasn’t a full win for the abortion lobby. The Pro-Life Generation still has a plan of attack to deal with these mini-Roes and fight back against the abortion industry.  

More to come soon!

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