Activists in Arizona say they have collected enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the state’s ballot in November that would create a “fundamental right” to abortion.
Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of pro-choice groups including the ACLU of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, announced it has collected more than 500,000 signatures from registered voters who want abortion rights on the ballot. The threshold for the initiative to appear on the ballot is 383,923 signatures, which he must submit to the Arizona Secretary of State no later than July 3, 2024.
With more than three months left to gather additional signatures, the coalition expects the amendment to be placed on the ballot even if some parts become invalid during the verification process.
“We regularly see high levels of enthusiasm for this measure in communities across Arizona. Voters of every party say they believe people, not the government, should be responsible for their bodies and health care decisions. “We’re talking to people,” party spokeswoman Dawn Pennich said. Access to Abortion in Arizona.
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Demonstrators march in Phoenix, Arizona on January 20, 2024. (Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Thanks to this support, we were able to collect so many signatures with over three months left. We have well over 3,000 Arizona voters, and we’ve reached out to voters across the state. We are volunteering and collecting signatures,” Penich added.
NBC News first reported that Arizona for Abortion Access had collected 506,892 petition signatures.
When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, it ended constitutional protections for abortion rights and returned the issue to the states. In the years since, several states have enacted laws restricting or banning the procedure, and others have adopted state constitutional amendments enshrining a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy before birth.
Ballot efforts to guarantee abortion rights have also been successful in red states like Kansas and Ohio. Democrats hope the Arizona effort and a similar one in Florida will boost turnout in key battleground states and repeat the victory the party won in the 2022 midterm elections on so-called reproductive rights protections. I hope so.
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Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, speaks at a rally in support of midterm candidates who support abortion rights in front of the state Capitol in 2022. (Tama Mario/Getty Images)
Arizona’s proposed abortion access constitutional amendment would create a “fundamental right” to abortion until the fetus is viable (around 24 weeks of pregnancy). The proposed amendment includes an exception if a medical professional determines that an abortion is necessary to “protect the life, physical, or mental health of the pregnant individual.”
Pro-life groups argue that the mental health exemption is too vague and could easily allow women to obtain permission to abort viable babies late in pregnancy.
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A demonstrator holds a sign that reads “My Body, My Choice” during a rally outside the Arizona State Capitol in 2022. (Tama Mario/Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, most voters believe that under this unregulated, unlimited abortion amendment, mothers and fathers would lose essential doctors, critical and common-sense safety standards for girls and women seeking abortions, “She is not informed that she will be excluded from the decision to abort her minor daughter, leaving her to go through a painful and frightening process alone.” said spokeswoman Cindy Dahlgren.
“It would be reckless to abandon these important standards just to expand abortion beyond the current 15 weeks and beyond what a majority of voters support.Nearly 80% of voters support abortion restrictions. ,” Dahlgren said.
Current Arizona law limits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with one exception to save the mother’s life in a medical emergency.
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The Arizona Supreme Court is also considering a challenge to an 1864 law adopted before Arizona became a state. The law imposes a near-total ban on abortion and makes it a crime to perform or assist a woman in obtaining an abortion, punishable by two to five years in prison.
The proposed amendment would override this law and other abortion restrictions enacted in Arizona.
