Arizona voters put abortion right into state constitution

Arizonans are putting a right to abortion into the state constitution.

More than 60% of the votes counted so far from Tuesday's election support Proposition 139.

It will allow women to terminate a pregnancy without state interference until the point of fetal viability, generally considered between 22 and 24 weeks.

The vote was one of seven victories nationwide for abortion rights advocates. Abortion rights amendments also passed in Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they'll need to paws it again in 2026 for it to take effect. Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans. A measure that bans discrimination on the basis of "pregnancy outcomes" prevailed in New York, the Associated Press reported.

On the other side, Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving abortion bans in place.

Current Arizona law, approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature, sets a 15-week limit, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Voters here sent a clear message that was not acceptable, said Chris Love, spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access, which campaigned for the citizens initiative.

"Next time the nation wonders how much government interference in reproductive healthcare is acceptable, or what type of arbitrary abortion ban is popular, they can look at Arizona and know the answer is 'none,' '' she said in a written statement.

Putting Prop. 139 in the state constitution will protect against `"the whims of extremist politicians seeking to ban abortion completely," said Victoria Lopez, director of programs and strategies at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.

The measure includes no fixed end date at which an abortion could be performed. After viability, it permits the procedure if a treating health-care professional makes a "good faith judgment'' that terminating the pregnancy is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.

Foes, operating under the banner of It Goes Too Far, argued that language is really no restriction at all.

Aside from the fact that it allows any "treating health care professional'' to make the judgment call — and not necessarily the woman's own obstetrician — they said the exception for mental health amounts to allowing a pregnancy to be terminated at any point prior to birth.

The initiative organizers, Arizona for Abortion Now, did not specifically dispute that. But supporters said women don't wait until they are that far into a pregnancy to decide to have an abortion unless there is some very specific reason, such as a late-diagnosed medical problem.

The most recent report of the Arizona Department of Health Services shows that, out of 11,407 abortions performed in 2022, 25 were at or after 21 weeks.

The heavily funded campaign by supporters of the measure — they raised more than $35 million — drowned out the concerns of foes, said Cindy Dahlgren, communications director for the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy.

As of the last pre-election report, by contrast, foes had collected less than $1.4 million in donations.

One argument by supporters in TV commercials was that the current law would forbid doctors from dealing with miscarriages and other medical emergencies beyond 15 weeks, meaning women would have to wait until their own lives were in serious danger.

But Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, a supporter of Prop. 139, acknowledged in June that doctors couldn't be prosecuted for performing abortions after 15 weeks as long as they make a "good faith clinical judgment'' that the procedure is necessary to prevent a woman's death or "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.''

More to the point, Mayes said a doctor "need not wait for the patient to deteriorate or inch closer to death.''

As a constitutional amendment, the measure will override any other existing abortion laws, ranging from requirements for an ultrasound to a 24-hour waiting period.

Opponents noted that even backers, including Mayes, said it is less than clear whether it also will void laws prohibiting a minor from getting an abortion without either parental consent or permission of a judge.

The whole issue of abortion rights rocketed to the surface in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that women had a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. That returned the decision of what is legal to each state.

It was further complicated when the Arizona Supreme Court concluded last year that 2022 ruling allowed the state to once again enforce an 1864 law that made it a crime to perform an abortion except to save the life of the mother.

That old law was in effect only briefly amid court fights, culminating with the narrow decision by state lawmakers earlier this year to repeal it. That left in place the 15-week limit with no exceptions for rape or incest.

One point made during the campaign was the fact that if Prop. 139 were defeated, it would have left the decision on abortion rights to state lawmakers in the Legislature, currently controlled by Republicans, many of them in favor of a ban.

But Proposition 139, as a constitutional amendment, bars legislative tinkering.

It could be repealed only by sending it back to voters. And the only way for lawmakers to alter it would be to get a three-fourths vote in both the House and the Senate, and only if the change "furthered the purpose" of the voter-approved amendment.

The question of abortion rights played a role in several other races on Tuesday's ballot.

Supporters of the presidential bid by Democrat Kamala Harris hammered Republican Donald Trump, who bragged that he appointed several of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe. They noted he has made multiple statements about where he stands on the issue, most recently by voting in his home state of Florida to support a six-week ban there.

The issue was also pronounced in the Arizona race for U.S. Senate.

Democrat Ruben Gallego and his supporters ran multiple commercials showing 2022 video of Republican Kari Lake, when she ran unsuccessfully for governor, calling abortion the "ultimate sin'' and praising the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning Roe. Lake, in defensive mode, responded that, if elected to the Senate, she would not support a national ban and would abide by the decision of Arizona voters on Prop. 139.

Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Threads at or email .

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