Over 800,000 People Sign Onto Arizona Abortion Amendment

Arizona for Abortion Access, the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights, turned in more than 800,000 signatures on Wednesday, making it one step closer to appearing on the key battleground state’s November 2024 ballot.

With the 2024 presidential election fast approaching, abortion has been a key issue for both the Republican and Democratic campaigns as incumbent President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump are expected to face off in November.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, many Republican-controlled states have put abortion restrictions into effect, with 21 states banning or restricting the medical practice at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic states have laws or executive orders in place to protect access. Voters in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Vermont and Arizona have taken steps to adopt similar ballot measures, hoping to put the abortion issue directly before voters amid a critical presidential, Senate and House races.

On Wednesday, Arizona for Abortion Access announced that it had turned in more than 800,000 signatures more than two times the 384,000 it needed to move forward with the process of qualifying their proposal for the ballot.

The proposed ballot initiative would amend the state’s constitution and create a “fundamental right” to receive an abortion up until fetal viability. After that point, the measure would prohibit the state from restricting abortion in situations where the health or life of the pregnant person is at risk.

According to Abortion for Access, it is the largest number of signatures ever submitted in Arizona for a citizen-led ballot initiative.

Newsweek has reached out to Abortion for Access via email for comment

“It represents one in five Arizona voters. It’s an amazing feat for us. I think it’s a demonstration of the strength of our campaign and the excitement of Arizona voters to really settle the issue of abortion rights on the ballot in November,” Chris Love, a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access said in a statement.

Efforts to move the ballot initiative forward came as the state came close to outlawing almost all abortions when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in April to uphold the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban.

In a 4-2 ruling, justices allowed the 1864 law to stand that criminalized abortion by making it a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs or helps a woman obtain one.

However, in May, after weeks of public and national backlash, Arizona lawmakers passed a bill repealing the ban, which Democratic state governor Katie Hobbs signed into law.

The repeal put back in place a 2022 law that made abortion legal up until the 15th week of pregnancy, with an exception after that to save the mother’s life, but no exceptions for rape or incest.

Despite the appeal, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who has also continued to fight against the abortion ban, said the near-total abortion ban will still go into effect as the ban’s repeal will not go into effect until 90 days after the current legislative session ends.

Arizona’s legislative session doesn’t have a specific end date. In recent years, the session has ended in late June. However, in 2023, the session didn’t end until August. The 1864 ban could stay in effect through the summer and fall.

Now that the signatures have been submitted, the office of Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, has until August 27 to review it and formally certify the measure for the November ballot.