Advancing Life and Liberty Through Action

Feb 6, 2026

The Fight for Family: 16 Proposed Ballot Initiatives Seek to Alter Laws on Life, Marriage & Biological Reality

Four amendments rejecting life & biological reality have already failed to gain traction, but voters in 11 states may face up to 16 ballot initiatives on these vital issues in the 2026 General Election*

The culture wars in the United States continue to drive voter turnout at election time, with millions spent on ballot initiatives seeking to alter state laws on life, marriage, and biological reality each election cycle. Indeed, while the Dobbs decision was a landmark win for life, the pro-abortion movement’s response was to launch a well-funded and well-organized effort to enshrine abortion in state constitutions. In 2024 alone, activists spent over $250 million on 11 abortion initiatives, with Florida’s battle breaking the record for the most expensive in history, coming in at a whopping $121 million.

The 2026 election cycle is shaping up to be no different — as of this writing, numerous state legislatures and groups of concerned citizens are seeking to garner enough support to pass 16 life, marriage, and LGBT-related initiatives, altering either their state’s statutes or constitutions. These range from a citizen’s initiative seeking to alter the Nevada Constitution to permit abortion up to birth to a legislative initiative seeking to amend the Missouri Constitution to protect life and prohibit transgender mutilating surgeries for minors.

On a positive note, four ballot measures Liberty Counsel Action has been tracking – one in Hawaii, two in Missouri, and one in Oregon, all of which trampled on life and biological reality – failed to gain traction.. The other 14 proposed initiatives include proposals that would protect girls' sports and parental rights, as well as proposals that would permit same-sex marriage, enshrine abortion as a “right,” and even provide a right to IVF and transgender affirming “care” (some so-called “Equal Rights” amendments do all three and more). These 16 are in various stages of approval — some will definitely be on the ballot, some are still seeking a required number of signatures from the citizens of the state, some are undergoing signature certification, and some are the subject of legal challenges – including an extreme pro-abortion measure in Virginia facing a lawsuit filed by Liberty Counsel.

The real danger of many of these initiatives is that voters often do not understand how far they reach: not only do some of them allow abortion up until the moment of birth for virtually any reason, but some also may permit infanticide (directly or indirectly killing a baby who survives a botched abortion). Many of them remove health and safety protections for women, make it easier for sex traffickers and abusers to cover their crimes, negate parental rights, may lead to taxpayer-funded abortions, and, as noted above, create a “right“ to mutilating sex-rejecting (transgender) surgeries (for example, Ohio’s “Equal Rights” amendment would prohibit any law that seeks to deny an individual’s “right” to “healthcare” based on their “gender identity or expression”).

Many of these – good and bad – are very likely to end up on the ballot, and some already are.

Whatever the case may be, now is the time act. Indeed, while President Trump’s re-election has led to numerous victories for both life and the family, stemming the tide of the radical pro-abortion and pro-LGBT agenda at a federal level, another president could easily undo the Trump administration’s pro-family policy changes. Furthermore, states retain the power to set their own policy on these matters.

We must not be complacent. Midterm elections are notorious for low-voter turnout, which tends to mean particularly bad news for those whose party is in power — in other words, the other side already has the advantage. We must engage, get out the vote, and ensure that those who value life and biological truth join us at the polls in November.

We invite you to get involved with those in your home state (or a nearby state) to protect the right to life and defend biological reality by doing the following:
  1. Reviewing our state tracker and “Take Action” options below.
  2. Watching our training video, produced in partnership with the Leadership Institute, on how to defeat abortion amendments. CLICK HERE TO WATCH NOW.
  3. Sharing this information on social media.
  4. Praying that the truth and life-affirming measures are victorious and that others are defeated, that the Lord changes hearts and minds (2 Corinthians 3:16), and that we as a nation would humble ourselves according to 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” To join with others in prayer, see Liberty Counsel’s Prayer Network.

*There are three ballot initiatives in Alabama outside of these issue areas that Liberty Counsel Action likewise urges support for: the School District Consolidation Process Amendment, the Require Pledge of Allegiance and Allow Student-Led Prayer in Public Schools Amendment, and the Broadcast The Star-Spangled Banner in Public Schools Amendment. If your state has an amendment that you think Liberty Counsel Action should be supporting, please email [email protected]!

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