Advocacy groups aiming to protect abortion rights in the Arizona constitution stated on Tuesday that they have amassed sufficient signatures to place the amendment on the ballot in November.
A coalition of organizations, Arizona for Abortion Access, which includes the ACLU of Arizona, Reproductive Freedom for All Arizona, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, revealed that they have gathered over 500,000 voter signatures so far, with more than three months remaining until the July 3 deadline for submission.
The necessary number of valid voter signatures for constitutional amendments is 383,923.
Chris Love, a spokesperson for the campaign, remarked that the number of signatures is a demonstration of how widely supported reproductive freedom and safeguarding abortion access are among Arizona voters.
Activists supporting abortion rights are striving to place amendments on the ballot in as many conservative and moderately conservative states as possible. Arizona, being a crucial swing state, could engage Democratic voters in the November elections by having a question about abortion rights on the ballot.
In 2020, President Biden secured Arizona by 0.3 percentage points, making him only the second Democrat in 70 years to win the state.
Abortion is presently prohibited in Arizona after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but with an exception for the mother's life, not for cases of rape or incest.
The state Supreme Court is also set to make a decision on the constitutionality of a law from 1864 that prohibits all abortions, predating Arizona's statehood. Under this law, performing or assisting in obtaining an abortion was a felony carrying a sentence of two to five years in prison.
The proposed amendment would invalidate the 15-week ban and the pre-statehood law, establishing a 'fundamental right' to abortion up to the point of viability, generally considered to be between 23 and 24 weeks of gestation. It would also include exceptions for certain later-term abortions to safeguard the patient's health and life, as determined by the treating healthcare provider.
