FILE - Volunteer signature gatherers Judy Robbins, left, and Lara Cerri, center, collect Grace Harders' signature on a petition to enshrine the right to abortion in Arizona's consitution, April 10, 2024, in Phoenix. Abortion rights advocates are set to deliver about 800,000 petition signatures Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in hopes of getting abortion rights on the November general election ballot.
Officials with Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and Planned Parenthood of Arizona, will turn in hundreds of boxes of signed petitions to the Arizona Secretary of State's office Wednesday morning. Election officials said Aug. 22 is the deadline for county recorders to verify petition signatures and provide certified results to the Arizona Secretary of State's office.would allow abortions in Arizona until a fetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions to save the parent’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would restrict the state from adopting or enforcing any law that would prohibit access to the procedure.
Supporters of the Arizona ballot measure say a change in the state's constitution is necessary to ensure that abortion rights cannot be easily erased by a high court decision or legislative vote. Both efforts, as well as a third that would ban abortion at all stages by deeming embryos as people, must turn in around 123,000 valid signatures — or 10% of registered voters in the state — to get on the November ballot.
The group behind the measure, Arkansans for Limited Government, said on Facebook and Instagram on Tuesday it still needed 8,200 signatures. The group must submit at least 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify.