PHOENIX – The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 200-word summary that abortion advocates used to gather signatures for a ballot measure is valid, clearing the way for voters to decide on the constitutional right to abortion.
Under the measure, abortions would be allowed until an embryo or fetus could survive outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks. There are some exceptions for later abortions to save the mother’s life or to protect her physical or mental health.
The decision comes after a Thursday ballot printing deadline in Arizona.
Arizona Right to Life, the organization that sued the election campaign, argued that the summary of the petition was misleading.
The Supreme Court justices rejected that argument, as well as the claim that the summary of the proposed amendment did not mention that it would repeal existing abortion laws if approved by voters.
“We have noted that “unreasonable people may differ on the best way to describe a principal provision, but a court should not interfere in such disputes,” the court wrote in its ruling.
Arizona for Abortion Access, which launched the initiative, said the ruling is a “huge win” and advocates will work around the clock to encourage voters to support it.
“We are confident that Arizona voters this fall will make history by establishing a fundamental right to abortion in our state, once and for all,” the group said in a statement.
Arizona’s secretary of state recently certified 577,971 signatures — well above the number required to put the issue before voters.
Democrats have made abortion rights a central message since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade by 2022 — and that is an important part of their efforts in this year’s election.