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Anti-abortion group drops challenge to abortion rights ballot measure signatures
Source: Arizona Mirror
By: Gloria Rebecca Gomez - July 30, 2024
An anti-abortion group is backtracking on a lawsuit it launched against the Arizona Abortion Access Act, withdrawing allegations that signature collectors for the campaign turned in legally insufficient forms or fraudulently misrepresented the ballot initiative.
Last week, Arizona Right to Life filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court calling for the abortion rights initiative to be blocked from the November ballot. The nonprofit was one of several groups that earlier this year unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Arizonans not to support the initiative’s signature gathering effort. That strategy proved unsuccessful; the campaign behind the act turned in more than 820,000 signatures — a record-breaking total that exceeds the 383,923 required for voters to consider it in the fall.
If voters choose to support the Arizona Abortion Access Act, the state’s current 15-week gestational ban would be nullified and abortion would be enshrined as a fundamental right in the Arizona Constitution. The constitutional amendment guarantees access to the procedure up to the point of fetal viability, widely regarded to be around 24 weeks. It also includes exceptions beyond that timeframe if a health care provider deems an abortion necessary to preserve a patient’s life, physical or mental health.
Last week, Arizona Right to Life filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court calling for the abortion rights initiative to be blocked from the November ballot. The nonprofit was one of several groups that earlier this year unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Arizonans not to support the initiative’s signature gathering effort. That strategy proved unsuccessful; the campaign behind the act turned in more than 820,000 signatures — a record-breaking total that exceeds the 383,923 required for voters to consider it in the fall.
If voters choose to support the Arizona Abortion Access Act, the state’s current 15-week gestational ban would be nullified and abortion would be enshrined as a fundamental right in the Arizona Constitution. The constitutional amendment guarantees access to the procedure up to the point of fetal viability, widely regarded to be around 24 weeks. It also includes exceptions beyond that timeframe if a health care provider deems an abortion necessary to preserve a patient’s life, physical or mental health.
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The bulk of Arizona Right to Life’s complaint centers around the claim that the act is simply too confusing for everyday Arizonans to understand. According to the lawsuit, because of the initiative’s unclear language and intent, voters who ordinarily wouldn’t have signed petition sheets were tricked into doing so. The courts have the power to block ballot measures considered to be misleading.
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AZ Secretary of State has assigned a ballot proposition number to the initiative. It will appear on the 2024 ballot as Prop. 139.
Link to full story