Arizona votes to enshrine abortion rights in state constitution

An Arizona ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has passed, according to a call by the Associated Press.

“Next time the nation wonders how much government interference in reproductive healthcare is acceptable, or what type of arbitrary abortion ban is popular, they can look at Arizona and know the answer is 'none',” Chris Love, spokesperson for the Prop. 139 campaign, said in a statement.

Since 2022, Arizona has enforced a law banning abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. Proposition 139 will amend the state constitution to allow abortions to the point of fetal viability — around 24 weeks. And the measure will allow exceptions for abortions beyond the point of viability to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.

Opponents decried the measure as dangerously broad. They argued the state’s 15-week law already allowed enough access to abortion – before that law took effect, more than 90% of abortions in the state happened before 15 weeks. And opponents argued the 15-week law made reasonable exceptions for miscarriages or pregnancy-related emergencies.

But the Prop. 139 campaign said the 15-week law created traumatic obstacles for women facing complications later in pregnancy and forced some women to leave the state for abortions. About 3,000 women are estimated to have traveled out of Arizona for abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion policy.

Multiple polls leading up to election day showed Prop. 139 had enough support among Arizona voters to pass.

“I’ve always felt that once we were on the ballot we would win because our position is really popular,” Love said.

To qualify for ballots, the citizen-led initiative gathered more than 800,000 signatures – more than double what was required – from across the state. And the Prop. 139 campaign raised $32 million – 25 times more than its opposition group raised.

A major fundraising boost for the abortion rights campaign came in April, when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled the state should enforce a near-total abortion ban dating to 1864. Arizona lawmakers in May narrowly voted to toss the 1864 law out, but the Arizona for Abortion Access campaign said it didn’t lose momentum, even after it became clear the state’s 15-week law would remain in place.

Now, the 15-week law is expected to fall once the new constitutional amendment goes into effect.

But Arizona also has dozens of other laws on the books regulating abortion. There’s a required 24-hour wait for patients, a law barring abortion medication through the mail, and a requirement that the patient have an ultrasound, which providers say is often medically unnecessary. Those laws are now likely to be challenged in court, too, said Barbara Atwood, professor of law emerita at the University of Arizona.

“There will be a lot of litigation trying to figure out exactly what it means,” Atwood said. “There will be a period of some uncertainty about which of the existing laws – on informed consent, waiting periods, the 15-week law itself – whether those will stand under the new constitutional provision.”

With the passage of Prop. 139, Arizona joins a growing list of states that have voted in favor of abortion rights since 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Arizona was one of 10 states with abortion-related measures on ballots in this election – the measures passed in seven of those states.