A new abortion advocacy group has launched a campaign to add an amendment to the Arizona Constitution protecting abortion rights.
Arizona for Abortion Access filed proposed language on Tuesday for a referendum to be placed on the ballot in November 2024. Currently, abortion is only legal up to 15 weeks gestation in the state.
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The new political action committee comprises several pro-abortion rights advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, and NARAL Arizona.
Chris Love, a board member of PPAA and the lead organizer of Arizona for Abortion Access, said that the new group will begin collecting signatures for their amendment as early as mid-September.
State legislators are anticipated to review the language of the amendment within the next 30 days. Arizona for Abortion Access will have until July 3, 2024, to collect the 383,923 valid registered voter signatures needed to place the measure on next year's ballot.
It doesn’t matter where you’re from, where you live, or how much money you make. We’re fighting for you and your right to make decisions about your own body and life without political interference.
— NARAL (@NARAL) August 7, 2023
Several ballot measures have been introduced in states that have passed stringent abortion limitations.
Anti-abortion advocates in Missouri are also challenging a constitutional amendment that would overturn the state's near-total abortion ban. Missourians will vote on the amendment in November 2024.
Ohioans on Tuesday will vote to determine whether their state constitution can be amended with a simple majority vote. This special election was triggered by the proposed ACLU-backed amendment on the ballot this November that would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, invalidating the currently enjoined six-week abortion ban.
"Ohio is an important test case,” Stephen Billy of SBA Pro-Life America previously told the Washington Examiner. Billy contends that abortion advocates are attempting to circumvent Republican or anti-abortion leadership in states with strict limitations on the controversial procedure. “They can’t succeed through the legislative process,” said Billy.
Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) has been a staunch abortion supporter during her tenure and has moved to increase access to abortion in Arizona despite the 15-week limitation.
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"I will not allow extreme and out of touch politicians to get in the way of the fundamental rights of Arizonans," Hobbs said upon signing an executive order centralizing authority for prosecuting abortionists violating the law under the governor's office.
Hobbs has also expanded access to contraception coverage in her state explicitly due to abortion restrictions.