ONEArizona voters will decide in November whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution — a move in a swing state that could have implications for the tumultuous and historic presidential election.
The Arizona secretary of state’s office confirmed to TIME that the measure will appear on the ballot in the November election, after having certified some 577,971 signatures on Monday — far exceeding the number needed to put the initiative on the ballot. Dawn Penich, communications director for the coalition supporting the initiative, Arizona for Abortion Access, says the group has garnered the most signatures for a citizens’ initiative in the state’s history: more than 820,000.
The coalition, which includes reproductive rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, celebrated the news. “The fact that we moved forward with our ballot initiative and got as much support as we already have shows that Arizonans are tired of seeing their rights subject to the political whims of whoever is in the legislature or whoever we are in our courts. , and they want to resolve this issue once and for all through this citizen initiative process”, he says Chris Love, coalition campaign spokesman.
Arizona currently prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The law, signed in 2022, includes exceptions for medical emergencies. The November ballot measure, Proposition 139, would allow abortions until the fetus can survive outside the uterus, which typically occurs around the 24th week of pregnancy. It would also include exceptions if the pregnant person’s life is at risk or to protect the individual’s physical or mental health. He would be “establish a fundamental right to abortion” in the state constitution and would prevent the state from prohibiting or restricting access to the procedure prior to feasibility. States including Michigan and Ohio have already approved similar measures.
Those opposing the measure said it goes too far, arguing that the mental health exception is broad and would allow people to terminate viable pregnancies.
Having the abortion initiative on the ballot in November could have political effects that go beyond reproductive rights in Arizona. In the presidential campaign, it’s a key difference between Vice President Kamala Harris, who was instrumental in the Biden administration’s messaging on reproductive rights, and former President Donald Trump, who nominated three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Other Democrats have made this a major focus of their 2024 campaigns, and states like Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota are all ready to vote right to abortion this year.
The issue’s interaction with political races and how it affects turnout could be particularly determining in Arizona, one of the most crucial battleground states in the 2024 elections.
“Arizona is a swing state; our election results are typically very tenuous,” says Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona. “We are seeing small margins of victory in high-profile elections and, frankly, in local elections as well. So having something at the polls that mobilizes voters to speak out is very, very crucial.”
In other abortion ballot initiatives that have reached voters since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Americans have broadly supported abortion rights and the issue has typically emboldened Democrats. “Having abortion on the ballot is helpful for Democrats because it mobilizes the types of people who will support Democratic candidates,” says Klar.
Some polls show support for abortion rights among Arizonans. In March, Klar collaborated with YouGov on a poll of 800 registered voters in Arizona. More than 40% said decisions about abortion should be left up to the woman and her doctor, while about 25% supported a near-total ban on abortion. ONE CBS News Poll in May, 65% of likely Arizona voters were found to have said they would vote “yes” on a ballot measure establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the state; 21% said they would vote against.
Abortion policy in Arizona has been somewhat shaky since the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization two years ago. In April, the Arizona Supreme Court maintained an 1864 law that only allowed abortion to save the pregnant woman’s life, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Republican-controlled legislature then revoked the law, leaving in effect a 2022 statute that bans abortion after 15 weeks.
“There has been a lot of confusion about what the state of the law has been in Arizona,” says Love. “Ensuring this right in the Constitution gives Arizona voters the certainty that they will need to understand what their reproductive rights are and, again, take these issues back into their own hands and make personal health care decisions with their families and their providers. of medical services. .”
And as Arizona voters head to the polls, the abortion initiative “absolutely could make a difference” in the presidential race, says Klar. “This is a tense state, a relevant and very mobilizing issue.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
