Abortion rights activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., May 21, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC14A2976A90
In the post-Roe environment, this is not good news for Republicans. Abortion will be on the ballot in both swing state Arizona and Montana, where Democratic Senator Jon Tester needs all of the help he can get to win his close race.
The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a challenge by anti-abortion activists to the Arizona Abortion Access Act, aka Proposition 139. It had amassed “a record-breaking number of signatures to qualify for the November ballot, and just under 578,000 were confirmed to be valid last week — far exceeding the 383,923 requirement for a proposal that amends the Arizona Constitution.”
Anti-abortion activists (who misleadingly refer to themselves as “Right to Life” when this doesn’t apply to women’s or girl’s lives) argued that voters hadn’t been told that this would invalidate existing abortion laws including the current 15-week gestational ban, as if that wasn’t the point, but the judge ruled the Act “perfectly accurate.”
Indeed, if this passes, it sets the anti-abortion activists back. “The act guarantees access to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability, generally regarded as being around 24 weeks, and includes exceptions beyond that timeframe if a health care provider deems the procedure is necessary to preserve a woman’s life, physical or mental health. It also prohibits any state law from denying, interfering or restricting a woman’s right to obtain an abortion unless the state has a compelling interest in doing so that is rooted in evidence-based decision-making and doesn’t infringe on a woman’s autonomy.”
In other words, abortion is healthcare and healthcare is best decided by professionals and individuals.
In Montana, abortion will also be on the ballot in November. The state Secretary of State’s office certified on Tuesday that the issue will be on the ballot. Montana voters will have the opportunity to enshrine their right to medical freedom in the state constitution.
“Montana’s measure seeks to enshrine a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion by a provider of the patient’s choice as Republican lawmakers have tried to overturn the ruling, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and left the abortion issue up to the states,” the AP reported late Tuesday evening.
The abortion measure might help boost Democratic Senator Jon Tester, who was polling behind his Republican opponent Tim Sheehy until the most recent week of polling.
This makes eight states in which abortion will be on the ballot in November. Additionally, the AP noted Nebraska as having a measure pending and New York having a “protective” measure barring discrimination regarding reproductive healthcare on the ballot, but it doesn’t specifically mention abortion.
So far, each time the issue of medical freedom has been brought before voters, it has won — including in red states like Ohio and Kentucky. A lot of work goes into not only getting signatures for these measures, but then fighting in court against anti-abortion activists who seek to overturn the will of the voters and impose their own beliefs on the populace at large at every turn.
Medical freedom is an individual human right, and someone else’s religious beliefs should have no bearing on how your doctor can treat you no matter what the presenting healthcare issue is.
Abortion will now be on the ballot in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Maryland and Florida.
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