Arizona and Missouri to vote on abortion rights

Arizona and Missouri are to vote on amendments that could enshrine access to abortion in their constitutions in November.

A petition to put the issue before voters received far more signatures than required by both states' laws.

The Arizona amendment, if approved, would codify a "fundamental right" to receive abortion care up until fetal viability, or about the 24th week of pregnancy, with exceptions to "protect the life or physical or mental health" of the mother.

Missouri's amendment would reverse the state's near-total ban, which was brought in after the Supreme Court removed US constitutional rights to abortion.

Opponents of the Arizona initiative argue it goes too far and could lead to unregulated abortions in the state. Lawsuits to stop the measure from appearing on the ballot are expected.

Arizona is one of many states where voters have considered or will consider a ballot initiative surrounding abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022.

So far, the measures have proved popular with voters - residents of California, Michigan, Vermont and Ohio voted to protect abortion rights by wide margins.

Kansas and Kentucky voters also rejected referendums that would have stripped abortion rights.

The Arizona Secretary of State's office said it certified 577,971 signatures - more than the 383,923 required to appear on the ballot in Arizona - in support of asking voters directly how abortion access in the state should look.

The petition represents the most signatures validated for a citizen-led initiative in state history, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said.

Arizona for Abortion Access — a coalition that includes the ACLU of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona — led the months-long effort.

“This is a huge win for Arizona voters who will now get to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all,” Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for Arizona for Abortion Access, said in a statement.

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Abortions in Arizona are currently legal until the 15th week of pregnancy. After the 15th week mark, the law makes exception for the procedure to save a mother's life, but not for rape or incest.

The certification of the abortion ballot initiative comes months after a national debate over an 1864 Arizona law that banned nearly all abortions in the state.

Arizona's Supreme Court reinstated the law - which makes performing an abortion punishable by two to five years in prison, except when the mother's life is at risk - earlier this year. The state's legislature repealed the Civil War-era ban.

Thirteen US states have outlawed abortion through so-called trigger laws following the Supreme Court's decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion.

Missouri is one of those states.

When Roe was overturned, a 2019 Missouri was triggered that prohibited abortion "except in cases of medical emergency".

The law made it illegal to perform or induce an abortion, punishable by five to 15 years in prison.

Voters in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Dakota will also vote on abortion rights in November.