Abortion advocates’ ballot initiative in Arizona, to enshrine abortion access in the state’s constitution, is well on its way toward getting on the ballot in the fall. Today, the organizers behind the Arizona for Abortion Access group submitted 823,685 signatures to election officials — more than double the 383,923 needed to get a constitutional amendment question in front of voters.
The abortion question — which would codify the right to an abortion in the state constitution — is not yet officially on the ballot. Local county election officials will have to sift through the signatures next to make sure there are enough valid ones — Arizona requires signatures from 15 percent of voters for a question to get on the ballot. The deadline for that part of the process is August 22.
The initiative, called the Arizona Abortion Access Act, would make it so that no state law could restrict abortion before viability, and it would allow abortions to be performed beyond that to save the life of the pregnant person, or for physical and mental health reasons.
“This is the most signatures ever gathered for a ballot measure in Arizona history, which is a testament to the broad support among Arizona voters for restoring and protecting abortion access in Arizona,” campaign manager of Arizona for Abortion Access Cheryl Bruce said Wednesday.
If the signature validation process goes smoothly, Arizona will join Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota in placing abortion rights ballot questions before voters during a tumultuous presidential election — during a time in which things look increasingly dire for Democrats by the day. Abortion has served as an energizing and political force for Democrats in every election since Roe‘s overturning.
Despite President Biden’s debate performance, the sweepingly disastrous (for everyone but Donald Trump) Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity and recent polling showing a widening gap between support for Trump and Biden nationally, it appears the Trump campaign is very much aware that Trump’s abortion record is still a weak spot for the former president. Per new reporting from Politico:
Two hardline anti-abortion delegates to next week’s GOP platform committee have been stripped of their positions, according to several members of the Republican National Committee, underscoring a broader fear among evangelicals and other social conservatives that the party is poised to moderate its stance on abortion at the direction of former President Donald Trump.
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