Voters in Arizona and Montana can decide on constitutional right to abortion

PHOENIX -- Voters in Arizona and Montana will be able to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in their state constitutions.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 200-word summary that abortion advocates used to collect signatures for a ballot measure is valid, clearing the way for the issue to remain on the ballot.

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen on Tuesday certified Montana's constitutional initiative for the November ballot.

Under both measures, abortions would be allowed until fetal viability — the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks.

In Arizona, there are some exceptions for post-viability abortions to save the mother’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. Montana's measure allows later abortions if needed to protect the mother's life or health.

Montana’s initiative would enshrine in the constitution a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling that found the constitutional right to privacy includes the right of a patient to receive an abortion from a provider of their choice. Supporters sought to protect the right as Republican lawmakers passed bills to restrict abortion rights.

Voters in more than a half-dozen states will be deciding abortion measures this fall. The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion with a 2022 ruling, which sparked a national push to have voters decide.

“Since Roe was overturned, extreme anti-abortion politicians have used every trick in the book to take away our freedoms and ban abortion completely,” Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Montana, said in a statement. “During that time, we have been working together to put this issue before voters.”

Recent decisions from the Arizona Supreme Court come ahead of a Thursday ballot printing deadline. Montana's ballot must be certified by Thursday.

Arizona's justices sided with Republican lawmakers in a separate case concerning the abortion ballot measure last week to allow a voter information pamphlet to refer to an embryo or fetus as an “unborn human being.” That language will not appear on the ballots.

In another case, the justices ruled a legislative proposal to let local police make arrests near the state's border with Mexico will appear on the ballot for voters to decide. The court had rejected a challenge from Latino groups that argued the ballot measure violated a rule in the state constitution that says legislative proposals must cover a single subject.

In the latest abortion measure case, Arizona Right to Life sued over the petition summary, arguing it was misleading.

The high court justices rejected that argument, as well as the claim that the petition summary for the proposed amendment failed to mention it would overturn existing abortion laws if approved by voters. The court in its ruling states that “(r)easonable people” can differ over the best way to describe a key provision of a ballot measure, but a court should not entangle itself in those disputes.

“Regardless of the ruling, we are looking forward to working with our pro-life partners across the state to continue to inform voters about this ambiguous language,” said Susan Haugland, spokesperson for Arizona Right to Life.

Arizona for Abortion Access, which launched the initiative, said the ruling is a “huge win” and advocates will be working around the clock to encourage voters to support it.

"We are confident that this fall, Arizona voters will make history by establishing a fundamental right to abortion in our state, once and for all,” the group said in a statement.

The Arizona secretary of state's office recently certified 577,971 signatures — far above the number required to put the question before voters.

Democrats have made abortion rights a central message since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 — and it is a key part of their efforts in this year’s elections.