United States: On Wednesday morning, an Arizona group called Arizona for Abortion Access turned in a big petition. They want to plus the new rule to the state’s constitution that would protect the right to have an abortion and the particular group collected 823,685 signatures from voters, which is more than twice the 383,923 signatures they needed to put the measure on the ballot for the November 2024 election
Proposed “Arizona Abortion Access Act” Details
As mentioned by abc News, the proposed amendment, which is being called the “Arizona Abortion Access Act, “would allow the abortions up until fetal viability, and usually around 24 to 26 weeks’ gestation, and with the expectations after that particular period and if a treating healthcare provider determines an abortion is much needed to protect the life as well as the physical and mental health of patient.
Record-Breaking Effort
Dawn Penich, the ballot committee’s spokesperson, held a press conference on Wednesday morning at the Arizona State Capitol and said it has the “most signatures ever submitted” by a citizen-led ballot initiative.
“To put that into context, that means one out of every five Arizona voters signed this petition,” she said.
County officials will have until late August to verify if there are enough valid signatures on the petition, which is then certified by the Arizona secretary of State’s office
Next Steps and National Context
If that particular petition is approved then Arizona will join four other states including Colorado, Florida, Maryland and Nevada—that have a measure on the ballot to establish the right to an abortion in the State’s Constitution.
However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade four states—California, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont which voted to enshrine the abortion rights in their constitutions.
Meanwhile Kansas voters rejected a measure to remove the right to an abortion from its states constitution while the voters in Kentucky and Montana voted against further restricting rights to abort services.
Recent Developments on Abortion Laws
Lawmakers and officials however, quickly passed a bill repealing the long dormant ban, which was signed by the govt. Katie Hobbs. The repeal takes effect on Sept. 14, which is 90 days after the end of the legislative sessions, meaning the Civil War-era ban will not go into effect.
Instead, Arizona will keep its current laws in place, which ban abortion at 15 weeks’ gestation or later. Women are required to make two trips 24 hours apart, one for an in-person consultation and another for the procedure.
Additionally, women must receive an ultrasound, even if medically unnecessary, and receive a medication abortion in person because state laws ban the use of telehealth.
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