Abortion rights advocates in Arizona, US State have recently submitted initial documentation to initiate the process of placing a proposed amendment to the state constitution on the 2024 ballot.
The group behind this amendment, Arizona for Abortion Access, has received support from a coalition of organizations, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, NARAL Arizona, Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Arizona List, and Healthcare Rising Arizona.
Referred to as the Arizona Abortion Access Act by its proponents, the amendment seeks to introduce language into the state constitution recognizing that “every individual has a fundamental right to abortion.
Furthermore, the amendment outlines that laws, policies, and regulations can’t be enforced or enacted if they hinder abortion access prior to fetal viability, curtail abortion access post-fetal viability when a physician deems it medically necessary, or penalize those aiding individuals seeking abortion care.
Before Arizona voters can determine whether to incorporate this language into the state constitution, supporters must amass the requisite number of signatures. The state’s constitution mandates that proposed constitutional amendments garner valid signatures from 15% of eligible voters.
For the 2024 elections, the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office specifies that 383,923 signatures are necessary to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Abortion has been a topic of significant debate in Arizona. The state currently maintains an abortion ban from 1901, though a federal court ruled last year that enforcement is prohibited. While Republicans in the state legislature have pursued additional abortion limitations, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, issued an executive order safeguarding abortion right.
This development follows the 2022 voting outcomes in multiple states, such as California, Kentucky, and Michigan, where voters expressed support for abortion rights.
Advocates in various states, including Arizona and Ohio, view ballot measures as a strategy to navigate around conservative state legislatures that enacted stringent abortion bans following the Supreme Court’s removal of the federal right to abortion.
Furthermore, Human rights groups have expressed dismay about abortion restrictions that put patients at risk, urging the UN to take action.
Presently, judges have blocked some of these strict restrictions from being enforced.
