Arizona certifies abortion entry measure for the November poll : NPR

Arizona abortion-rights supporters collect for a information convention previous to delivering greater than 800,000 petition signatures to the state Capitol to get abortion rights on the November basic election poll, July 3, 2024, in Phoenix.

Ross D. Franklin/AP

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Ross D. Franklin/AP

Arizona voters will get to resolve in November whether or not so as to add the suitable to an abortion to the state structure.

The Arizona secretary of state’s workplace mentioned Monday that it had licensed 577,971 signatures — far above the required quantity that the coalition supporting the poll measure needed to submit with a view to put the query earlier than voters.

The coalition, Arizona for Abortion Entry, mentioned it’s the most signatures validated for a residents initiative in state historical past.

“This can be a large win for Arizona voters who will now get to vote YES on restoring and defending the suitable to entry abortion care, free from political interference, as soon as and for all,” marketing campaign supervisor Cheryl Bruce mentioned in an announcement.

Democrats have made abortion rights a central message because the U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 — and it’s a key a part of their efforts on this yr’s elections.

The problem already is ready to go earlier than voters this yr in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.

Arizona legislation at present bans abortions after 15 weeks. The ban, which was signed into legislation in 2022, contains exceptions in circumstances of medical emergencies however has restrictions on non-surgical abortion. It additionally requires an ultrasound earlier than an abortion is finished, in addition to parental consent for minors.

The proposed modification would enable abortions till a fetus may survive outdoors the womb, sometimes round 24 weeks, with exceptions to avoid wasting the mom’s life or to guard her bodily or psychological well being. It could limit the state from adopting or implementing any legislation that will prohibit entry to the process.

Organizers mentioned they initially submitted 823,685 signatures, greater than double the 383,923 required from registered voters.

Opponents of the measure say it goes too far and will result in limitless and unregulated abortions in Arizona.

Supporters, in the meantime, say a constitutional modification ensures that abortion rights can’t be simply erased by a courtroom determination or legislative vote.

In April, the Arizona Supreme Courtroom upheld an 1864 abortion ban that permitted abortions solely to avoid wasting the mom’s life and offered no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, however the Republican-controlled Legislature voted for a repeal of the Civil Struggle-era ban, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs shortly signed it.

The nineteenth century legislation had been blocked because the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s determination in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group that eradicated constitutional protections for abortion.