Voters in Arizona and Missouri will decide this November whether obtaining an abortion is a “fundamental right.”
Propositions to that effect were approved for both states’ general election ballots.
The citizen-led initiatives, certified by officials this week, have similar language. If passed, they would enshrine a right to abortion through fetal viability—the point at which a baby is believed capable of survival outside the womb—and in cases in which a doctor has deemed the mother’s life or health is at risk.
If the amendments pass, the states would be part of a growing list of those that have voted in favor of abortion access in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling overturned the federal right to abortion.
Organizers for the campaign announced on July 3 that they had submitted a record 823,685 signatures—more than double the required amount—to Fontes’s office.
The petitioners’ efforts were propelled by a legal battle over a Civil War-era abortion ban that state lawmakers voted to repeal in May.
Under a more recent law, abortion remains legal in Arizona through 15 weeks of pregnancy. The passage of the November amendment would extend legal abortion well into the second trimester, and in some cases through all nine months of pregnancy.
Celebrating the amendment’s certification via social media, Arizona for Abortion Access urged voters to seize the chance to “restore and protect the right to access abortion care, once and for all.”
Abortion proponents in Missouri echoed that message a day later, when the state’s Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative was certified.
“As we turn our attention to the November ballot, it’s clear Missourians overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom and will have the chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said.
“We are ready to fight so all Missourians can take back the freedom to make their own health care decisions.”
Missouri was one of the first states to ban abortion following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, which sent abortion legislation back to the states.
The Dobbs ruling triggered enforcement of a state law already on the books that prohibits the procedure under all circumstances except for medical emergencies.
Sue Liebel, midwestern regional director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, warned that the Missouri amendment would end “thousands of lives” if it is passed.
“Unborn children who have heartbeats, feel pain, suck their thumbs, smile, and even survive outside of the womb will no longer be protected in Missouri if this extreme measure passes,” Liebel said in a statement.
“Missouri would become as radical as California in allowing horrific late-term abortions and forcing the taxpayer to fund them.”
The ballot initiative is backed by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, among other pro-abortion organizations.
Liebel noted that Planned Parenthood’s Missouri operations have been mired in controversy for years.
In 2018, the organization’s Columbia facility was shut down after staff admitted to using moldy equipment in abortions. That same year, Planned Parenthood physicians conceded in court that they ignored state requirements for reporting medical complications from abortions over a 15-year period.
So far, voters have sided with abortion proponents on every ballot initiative concerning abortion since the Dobbs decision. The seven states that have voted on the matter are California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Vermont.
Citizen-led initiatives similar to those in Arizona and Missouri have been approved for the November ballot in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and South Dakota.
Efforts to secure ballot access are underway in Arkansas, Montana, and Nebraska.
