Arizona abortion measure has enough signatures to make November ballot, supporters say
Groups backing a ballot measure to change the Arizona Constitution to protect abortion access announced Tuesday they had collected enough voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
The groups said they had collected over 500,000 signatures from voters in favor of the constitutional amendment, well above the threshold of 383,923 signatures needed by an early July deadline. Leaders of the campaign, called Arizona for Abortion Access, said the development showed widespread support for their effort.
“This number is a testament to how popular reproductive freedom and protecting abortion access are among Arizona voters,” Chris Love, a spokesperson for the campaign, said in a statement. Love is a senior adviser to Arizona for Abortion Access and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.
The groups have said they will work to collect at least double the number of required signatures, meaning signature gathering will continue.
Having a buffer helps groups backing initiatives withstand legal challenges to the validity of the signatures, which are common, and especially likely given the opposition to the abortion ballot measure. At least two groups have stated opposition to the measure.
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Over 3,000 volunteers helped collect signatures since the initiative effort began last fall, according to campaign manager Cheryl Bruce. The campaign had also spent over $4 million by the end of 2023 for signature gathering, according to campaign finance records. Updated reports are due in mid-April.
The abortion ballot measure would create a "fundamental right" to obtain an abortion anytime before viability — the point at which a fetus would have a significant chance of surviving outside the womb. Fetal viability is typically at about 23 or 24 weeks of gestation.
After viability, the act prevents the state from enacting, adopting or enforcing any law that denies, restricts or interferes with an abortion that, "in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual," according to language submitted to the state.
The campaign is supported by the ACLU of Arizona, Arizona List and Planned Parenthood of Arizona, among other groups.
The campaign was widely expected to easily reach the number of signatures required to make the ballot. Abortion access has become one of the highest-profile political issues since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion rights in 2022. In seven states where abortion has been on the ballot since, voters have supported abortion access.
The law in Arizona now allows abortions up to 15 weeks of gestation, with no exceptions beyond 15 weeks. The Arizona Supreme Court is expected to soon rule in a case that could determine if that law remains in place. The court was asked to decide whether the 15-week law enacted in 2022 prevails over a pre-statehood ban on abortions at any point in pregnancy.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona abortion measure clears signature threshold for ballot
