New PAC pushes for abortion protections in Arizona constitution

(The Center Square) – Pro-abortion activists in Arizona are pushing for a ballot initiative to create a “fundamental right to abortion” in the state’s constitution.

In order for the voters to have the chance to decide whether or not women will be able to end a pregnancy prior to “fetal viability”, the petition from Arizona for Abortion Access will need a minimum of 383,923 signatures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office by July 3 of next year. Fetal viability is usually considered between 23-25 weeks, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“The Arizona Abortion Access Act amends the Arizona Constitution to establish a fundamental right to abortion that the State may not deny, restrict or interfere with before the point in pregnancy when a health care provider determines that the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus without extraordinary medical measures unless justified by a compelling governmental interest,” the overview of the initiative states.

The effort is endorsed by Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Healthcare Rising Arizona, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, NARAL Arizona, Arizona List, and ACLU of Arizona, according to the political action committee’s website.

“This ballot initiative — which could codify Arizonans’ right to abortion into the state constitution — would ensure that every Arizonan has the freedom to control their own lives and futures,” Planned Parenthood Action posted to social Tuesday.

Abortion access in Arizona has been hotly debated since the Dobbs decision last June by the United States Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade. As abortion became an issue entirely up to the states, Arizona was caught in the crosshairs with two dueling abortion laws on the books. Former Gov. Doug Ducey signed a 15-week abortion ban in March 2022, but there was also a wide-ranging abortion ban on the books from when Arizona was a territory. In December, the state appeals court decided that the 15-week ban is the one that can be enforced.

Some Republicans have criticized the proposed constitutional amendment, saying that it goes too far.

“Senate Republicans are proud to have consistently stood on the side of life. From what we now know, this out-of-state initiative is an extreme approach that does not fit the culture of our state or the values of most Arizonans,” Senate President Warren Petersen said in a statement.

One of the state’s most prolific abortion opponents, the Center for Arizona Policy, said in a statement that the proposition represents some of the most radical abortion allowances in the country.

“It quite literally is abortion on demand for any reason, at any stage of development, even partially born,” CAP President Cathi Herrod said. in a statement. “It leaves parents in the dark while their daughters struggle to make one of their most consequential decisions alone. And instead of owning up to the radical realities in clear language, the measure deceitfully first includes the limitation of viability, then nullifies it with broad, universal exemptions that allows stress to be reason enough for a late term abortion.”

Herrod refers to a prohibition on laws or policies “denying, restricting or interfering with an abortion after fetal viability 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.”