'Huge win': Abortion rights amendment will be on Arizona ballot in November

Reproductive rights advocates in Arizona celebrated a key victory late Monday after the state formally certified their proposed ballot measure, which aims to establish "a fundamental right to abortion" in Arizona's constitution.

The office of Arizona's secretary of state said it verified 577,971 signatures in support of placing the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. That's well above the required 383,923 signatures, and organizers said the total number of verified signatures surpassed the state record for ballot initiatives—an indication that the effort has generated widespread enthusiasm amid right-wing attacks on reproductive rights across the country.

"Today marks an important and exciting turning point toward ensuring the human right to abortion for Arizonans," said Karla Gonzales Garcia, gender, sexuality, and identity director with Amnesty International USA, part of the Arizona for Abortion Access coalition.

"The outpouring of support for bringing this ballot initiative to the people for a vote clearly shows that the human right to abortion is an important issue for Arizonans. Now, in November, it is time for Arizonans to take the next step and vote yes on this important initiative," she added. "Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, we're facing a human rights crisis in this country when it comes to abortion access. Too many people still cannot access healthcare, including abortions, they need. While the lasting solutions to ensure abortion access must be national in scope and go beyond restoring Roe, Arizonans have the powerful opportunity to constitutionally protect access to abortion in their state."

Under current Arizona law, abortion is banned after 15 weeks of pregnancy and—according to the Guttmacher Institute—patients are forced to jump through a number of hoops to receive care, such as getting an ultrasound even if it's medically unnecessary and making at least two in-person trips.

Proposition 139, the Arizona for Abortion Access Act, would establish "a fundamental right to abortion under Arizona's constitution" and bar the state from interfering "with this fundamental right before fetal viability unless it has a compelling reason and does so in the least restrictive way possible."

The initial victory for Proposition 139 organizers comes months after Arizona's Democratic governor signed legislation repealing a draconian abortion ban dating back to 1864. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled a month earlier that the law was enforceable after the U.S. Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade in the summer of 2022.

Arizona's 15-week abortion ban, signed into law by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, is now in effect—but voters in the battleground state will have a chance to effectively repeal the ban in November.

Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for Arizona for Abortion Access, said in a statement Monday that the official certification of the ballot measure "is a huge win."

Arizonans, she said, "will now get to vote yes on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all."

Arizona is one of a number of states where abortion rights will be on the ballot in November. Since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe, abortion rights have won every time they've been put directly to voters, a winning streak that has intensified right-wing efforts to derail ballot initiatives.

In Arkansas, campaigners are suing the state's top election official for moving to disqualify a proposed abortion rights ballot initiative for what they say were obvious political reasons.

Arkansas is one of 17 U.S. states where abortion is completely banned with extremely limited exceptions.