Arizona and Missouri will put abortion rights on the ballot
Arizona and Missouri voters will get to decide in November whether to add the right to an abortion to their states’ constitution.
The Arizona secretary of state’s office said Monday that it had certified 577,971 signatures — far above the required number that the coalition supporting the ballot measure had to submit in order to put the question before voters.
The coalition, Arizona for Abortion Access, said it is the most signatures validated for a citizens initiative in state history.
“This is a huge win for Arizona voters who will now get to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all,” campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said in a statement.
Democrats have made abortion rights a central message since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022 — and it is a key part of their efforts in this year’s elections. The issue already is set to go before voters this year in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.
Missouri voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would reverse that state’s near-total ban. The secretary of state’s office certified Tuesday that the initiative petition received more than enough valid signatures to qualify. It will need approval from a majority of voters to become enshrined in the state constitution.
If passed, the Missouri initiative would “do something that no other state has done before — end a total abortion ban at the ballot box,” said Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which is sponsoring the measure.
The Missouri ballot measure would create a right to abortion until a fetus could probably survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures, generally considered to be around 24 weeks into pregnancy. The ballot measure would allow abortions after fetal viability if necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant patient.
Arizona law bans abortions after 15 weeks. The ban, which was signed into law in 2022, includes exceptions in cases of medical emergencies but has restrictions on nonsurgical abortion. It also requires an ultrasound before abortion, as well as parental consent for minors.
The proposed amendment would allow abortions until a fetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions to save the mother’s life or to protect her health. It would restrict the state from adopting or enforcing any law that would prohibit access to the procedure.
More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022.
Opponents of the measure say it goes too far and could lead to unlimited and unregulated abortions in Arizona.
Supporters, meanwhile, say a constitutional amendment ensures that abortion rights cannot be easily erased by a court decision or legislative vote.
In April, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 ban that permitted abortions only to save the mother’s life and provided no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, but the Republican-controlled Legislature voted for a repeal of the Civil War-era law, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs quickly signed it.
Yamat writes for the Associated Press.
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