Court Challenges Done, Push For, and Against, Arizona’s Proposition 139 Has Begun

WASHINGTON — Abortion-rights and anti-abortion activists in Arizona are united in one thing with just 62 days left until the general election — both sides are determined to reach as many like-minded voters as they can to try to sway the vote on Proposition 139.

If it passes in November, the proposition, also known as the Arizona Abortion Access Act, would guarantee a woman’s access to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability.

Currently, Arizona bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, about nine weeks before the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes certified an estimated 577,971 signatures to get the measure on the ballot, but a lingering court challenge by the anti-abortion group Arizona Right to Life cast the fate of proposition vote in doubt.

The challenge revolved around the question of whether the description available to voters who signed the petition to put the amendment on the ballot met legal standards. 

State law requires a summary of up to 200 words be available to voters when they sign petitions to put the amendments on the ballot. 

The law also requires that the summary include the proposed ballot measure’s key provisions and clearly explain the measure’s objective.

On Aug. 5, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian ruled the description passed legal muster, prompting an appeal by Arizona Right to Life, which wasn’t resolved until shortly before the Labor Day holiday.

Like Julian, the Arizona Supreme Court also rejected the opponent’s bid to stop the vote, clearing the way for what is sure to be a spirited campaign this fall.

This past week, The Well News spoke with Dawn Penich, spokeswoman for Arizona for Abortion Access, via email, to learn more about the ballot measure.

“The Arizona Abortion Access Act restores the rights we had before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade [in 2022], and ensures that patients and their doctors, not politicians, are in control of health care decisions,” Penich said.

“Establishing a constitutional right to abortion is the best way to put pregnant patients and their doctors back in control of personal health care decisions, without government interference,” she added. “Abortion bans, like the one Arizona has, with no exceptions for rape, incest or medical emergencies, are dangerous.”

Advocates for the proposition insist that reproductive freedom is one area where “some” lawmakers are out of step with the voters of the state, and there’s evidence that they’re right.

A recent Fox News poll found that 73% of Arizona voters said they favor a ballot measure that would enact abortion protections “up until fetal viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health” in their state constitution. 

Just 23% of those who participated in the poll released Aug. 28 said they were opposed to the measure. 

Penich said that outcome could long have been predicted.

“One in five Arizona voters signed our petition to get Prop. 139 on the ballot,” she said. “That includes people from every county, every background, and every political party. 

“Support for the AAA transcends partisanship across our state and that’s why it’s so historic that this year, the people will be able to vote directly on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care,” Penich said. 

“We turned in the most signatures ever for a citizens initiative — Arizonans have said loudly and clearly that they want to vote to restore their right to make their own health care decisions,” she added.

Penich dismissed the last-minute legal challenges to the proposition as “shenanigans in the courts” that followed “years of misinformation by anti-abortion extremist special interests.”

Meanwhile members of Arizona Right to Life continue to insist the ballot initiative will amend the Arizona Constitution to allow abortion “up to birth.”

While there is no universal consensus on an exact moment of viability, a fetus is generally considered viable when it can survive outside the womb, which is usually around 24 weeks into a pregnancy. 

A full-term pregnancy is generally considered to be between 39 weeks and 40 weeks and six days.

Penich said between now and election day, members of the “Arizona for Abortion Access team” and their supporters will be speaking with Arizona voters wherever they can be found: at their doors, in community briefings, participating in community events, meeting with community leaders, holding a strong online presence throughout various social media platforms, on television spots, in print and radio media. 

“We will ensure that Arizona voters understand they will have a chance to restore and protect our freedoms once and for all by voting yes on Prop. 139, the Arizona Abortion Access Act,” she said, and she expects the effort will be successful.

“The Arizona Abortion Access Act is based on the very-Arizona idea that people have a right to individual autonomy, including in our health care decisions, without unnecessary government interference,” Penich said. “We find that sentiment all over the state. 

“This initiative involves our strong coalition of organizations and spans across generations: youth who deserve access to health care that prioritizes them, a generation whose rights have been stripped away, and our older generation who know what it was like to live in an era when the right to abortion didn’t exist,” she added.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue