A political action committee, Arizona for Abortion Access, has filed a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution, including late-term abortion. The amendment would remove current safety standards of medical care regarding abortion, allow for late-term abortions, open the door to more taxpayer-funded abortions and eliminate parental consent laws that are in place to protect minors. Currently, abortion is legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks into pregnancy, or at any time in pregnancy if the life of the mother is at risk.
A pro-life coalition opposed to the amendment has been pushing back. The group, It Goes Too Far, launched a campaign showing how extreme this measure is and pointing to the dangers it represents for women and young girls. The proposed amendment would eliminate “safety precautions designed to avoid complications or save a girl’s life in case of complications, and other reasonable measures would be forbidden and unenforceable,” said campaign manager Leisa Brug.
The Arizona Catholic Conference is working alongside the coalition to educate people in the pews. The website explains the dangers of this proposed amendment and with a letter from all the state’s bishops shows why citizens of Arizona should oppose this measure if it gets on the ballot.
According to the Associated Press, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and others that were engaged in efforts to collect the required number of signatures by July 3, 2024, submitted more than 800,000. This is well above the requisite amount to have it placed on the November ballot, but as the certification process moves forward, there are challenges being made against the amendment.
On July 30, Arizona Right to Life filed an amended complaint which focused just on the “confusing and misleading” language of both the petition explanation and the amendment. On August 5, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian rejected those claims, stating that the language of the proposed amendment wasn’t confusing and the court will not order the removal of the abortion ballot initiative.
