Abortion Rights Will Be on Ballot in 2 More States

Officials in Arizona, Missouri say measures have more than enough signatures
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2024 7:21 PM CDT
Abortion Rights Will Be on Ballots in Arizona, Missouri
Missouri residents and abortion-rights advocates react to a speaker during the Missourians for Constitutionals Freedom kick-off petition drive, Feb. 6, 2024 in Kansas City.   (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)

Abortion-rights measures have made it onto the ballot in two more states—including Arizona, a swing state where high turnout could decide the presidential election. The Arizona secretary of state's office has certified 577,971 signatures collected to put a constitutional amendment on abortion rights on the ballot, the most collected for any ballot measure in state history, the New York Times reports. The secretary of state's office in Missouri said Tuesday that a similar ballot measure has also gathered more than enough certified signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot.

The proposed constitutional amendments in both states would permit abortions until fetal viability, generally considered to be 22 to 24 weeks. Abortion-rights measures are already on the ballot in states including Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Constitutional amendments protecting abortion rights have been approved by voters in states including Michigan and Ohio.

  • Arizona. The proposed amendment would give Arizonans the "fundamental right" to abortion until the point of viability, the BBC reports. A law from 1864 banning all abortions was repealed earlier this year and state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Times notes that Arizona could decide control of the Senate as well as the White House, and Democrats are hoping Proposition 139 will drive high turnout.

  • Missouri. If it passes, the Missouri measure would "establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives," CNN reports. It would overturn the state's near-total ban on abortion, which took effect after Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022 and does not include exemptions in cases of rape or incest. Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, one of the measure's sponsors, says it would "do something that no other state has done before—end a total abortion ban at the ballot box," reports the AP.
  • Three more states. Montana's secretary of state has until Aug. 22 to certify a ballot measure that would "expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy," the Washington Post reports. Nebraska officials are evaluating two competing ballot measures, one that would add a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights and one that would encode the current ban on abortion after 12 weeks, reports the AP. In Arkansas, the state's top court is expected to rule in the near future on the state's rejection of signatures on a ballot measure to overturn the near-total ban on abortions.
(More abortion rights stories.)

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