A measure that would establish a fundamental right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution has enough signatures to be voted on, according to state officials.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) said Monday that the measure has received about 577,971 certified signatures — nearly 200,000 more than needed to appear on the November ballot and the largest number of signatures ever validated. by a citizen initiative in the history of the state.
“This is a huge victory for Arizona voters, who will now be able to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all,” Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for the initiative Arizona for Abortion Access. , said in a statement.
Bruce said the Arizona Abortion Access Act would appear on the ballot as “Proposition 139.”
Abortion is prohibited after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona, with a medical exception for the life of the mother, but not for rape or incest. The amendment would protect abortion until fetal viability, with exceptions after that if a health professional deems it necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.”
The ballot initiative campaign had to overcome several legal challenges, some of which remain unresolved.
The anti-abortion group Arizona Right to Life initially filed suit to dispute the collected signatures. The group withdrew part of its complaint, but the challenge to the 200-word summary that appeared in the petitions remains on appeal.
The election campaign is also suing the state after a Republican-controlled panel of state lawmakers approved including the phrase “unborn human being” in an election summary pamphlet.
A court ruled in favor of abortion access in Arizona, but lawmakers appealed to the state Supreme Court.
In a video shared on social media Monday, Fontes acknowledged the legal challenges that still lie ahead.
“I’m going to sign a certificate that will create, well, to – it will create a lot of lawsuits,” Fontes said before signing the paperwork to certify the signatures.
He added that Arizona’s citizen initiative process was “one of the purest forms of democracy, where people can make their own laws.”
“I’m excited to have been able to certify this,” Fontes said.
Arizona is a swing state and having an abortion rights issue on the ballot could energize Democratic voters in November.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
