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With a Republican majority set to take over the government, voters chose to protect reproductive rights in the state's constitution, according to multiple reports.
Abortion was already legal in Maryland, but this amendment provides further protections to make it more difficult to potentially pass future legislation that could limit care without violating the constitution.
It will also protect those who travel to Maryland for care and treatment.
According to the Maryland Board of Elections, 74.11 percent voted in favor of the constitutional amendment, versus 25.89 percent who were against it.
The now-approved amendment "confirms an individual's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end the individual's pregnancy, and provides the State may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge, the right unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means."
"This victory marks a powerful declaration for bodily autonomy and ensures that the essential freedoms to access abortion, contraception, and other reproductive health services are safeguarded in Maryland."
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