{
  "id": 18286260,
  "title": "Midterm Voters Split on Abortion and Trans Healthcare Ballot Questions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/midterm-voters-split-on-abortion-and-trans-healthcare-ballot-questions",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-11-05T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "KFF Health News",
    "slug": "kff-health-news",
    "url": "https://kffhealthnews.org/elections/abortion-transgender-healthcare-midterm-ballot-measures-missouri-states/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Midterm elections saw a significant split among voters regarding two controversial ballot questions: one proposing to ban abortion and gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors, and another restricting transgender athletes' participation in youth sports. In Missouri, a state that President Donald Trump won with an 18-point margin in 2024, voters rejected the proposal to ban both abortion and transgender healthcare. Missouri had previously enshrined abortion protections in its constitution two years prior. However, in Washington state, which Trump lost by 18 percentage points, voters backed the measure restricting transgender minors' participation in girls' sports, with 60% of votes counted as of Wednesday. Similar restrictions on trans athletes were also supported in Arizona, Nebraska, and Colorado, where a ban on gender-affirming surgery for minors led with about 80% of votes. In Virginia and Nevada, voters backed abortion protections, while Idaho voters rejected them. The different outcomes in these states can be attributed to varying cultural factors, according to Alina Salganicoff, director of Women's Health Policy at KFF. In Missouri, where the two issues were combined into a single ballot measure, opponents of the measure celebrated the rejection at election night watch parties, echoing their optimism from two years earlier when Missouri voters protected abortion rights. The Missouri initiative was part of an ongoing battle over abortion access in the state, which had previously banned abortion following the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The rejected Missouri measure would have also prohibited gender-affirming care for minors, reversing a previous ban.",
  "summary": "The nationwide blue wave in the midterm election didn’t necessarily carry over to ballot measures on abortion and transgender issues.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}