Arizona abortion ballot initiative has enough signatures to be on the ballot

A measure that would establish a fundamental right to abortion in Arizona’s constitution has enough signatures to make the ballot, according to state officials. 

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) said late Monday that the measure received about 577,971 certified signatures — nearly 200,000 more than required to appear on the November ballot and the most signatures ever validated by a citizen’s initiative in state history. 

“This is a huge win for Arizona voters who will now get 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 Arizona for Abortion Access initiative, said in a statement. 

Bruce said the Arizona for Abortion Access Act would appear on the ballot as “Proposition 139.” 

Abortion is banned 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 up until fetal viability, with exceptions after that if a health care professional deems it necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.” 

The ballot initiative campaign has needed to overcome several legal challenges, and some remain unresolved.

The anti-abortion group Arizona Right to Life initially sued to challenge the signatures gathered. The group withdrew part of its complaint, but a challenge to the 200-word summary that appeared on the petitions continues on appeal.

The ballot initiative campaign is also suing the state after a Republican-controlled panel of state lawmakers approved the inclusion of the phrase “unborn human being” in a voter summary pamphlet.

A court ruled in favor of Arizona for Abortion Access, but lawmakers have appealed to the state Supreme Court.

In a video shared on social media Monday, Fontes acknowledged the legal challenges still ahead. 

“I’m going to be signing off on a certificate that’s going to create, well, for — it’s going to create a bunch 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 get to make their own laws.”

“I am excited to have been able able to certify that,” Fontes said.

Arizona is a key swing state, and having an abortion rights question on the ballot could energize Democratic voters in November.