I'm just going to leave this here, because this woman said what I've been trying to articulate for ages much more effectively and succinctly than I've been able to
Carter Sherman at The Guardian:
A proposal to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution of Arizona, a key battleground state in the upcoming US elections, has inched closer to becoming an official ballot measure.
On Wednesday, Arizona for Abortion Access, the coalition behind the measure, announced that it had turned in more than 800,000 signatures – more than double the needed amount to get the measure on the ballot come November.
That’s more signatures than have ever been submitted for a citizen-led ballot measure in Arizona, according to Chris Love, a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access.
“It represents one in five Arizona voters,” Love said. “It’s an amazing feat for us. I think it’s a demonstration of the strength of our campaign and the excitement of Arizona voters to really settle the issue of abortion rights on the ballot in November.”
Arizona currently bans most abortions past 15 weeks of pregnancy, but the state came close to outlawing almost all abortions earlier this spring. In April, the Arizona supreme court ruled to uphold a law that paved the way for a 1864 near-total abortion ban – passed before Arizona even became a state – to take effect. That controversial decision kicked off a weeks-long battle in the Arizona state legislature, where Republicans hold a one-seat majority in both the state house and senate, as Democratic lawmakers tried to pass a repeal of the 1864 ban. They ultimately succeeded after a handful of Republican legislators broke ranks and voted for the repeal.
“Our message has always been the same: pregnant patients deserve the freedom to make their individual and personal health care decisions, and especially decisions about abortions, with their families and their health care providers,” Love said. “The back and forth that just happened with respect to the 1864 ban is a clear demonstration of why we need politicians out of the calculus.”
If voters pass the ballot measure, which is officially titled the Arizona Abortion Access Act, it would eliminate the state’s 15-week ban and instead protect the right to an abortion until fetal viability, a benchmark that typically occurs around 24 weeks of pregnancy. It would also allow abortions to take place after fetal viability if a health care professional believes the procedure is necessary to protect a pregnant person’s life or physical or mental health.
Roughly a dozen states, including Arizona and fellow swing state Nevada, are expected to hold ballot measures over abortion rights in the November elections. Activists in Nebraska and Arkansas are also set to turn in signatures supporting abortion rights ballot measures this week.
Arizona’s abortion rights proposal Arizona Abortion Access Act will be on the ballot this fall.
