PHOENIX — Proponents of abortion rights in November voting initiative have sued a Republican-led legislative committee seeking to include proposed voter pamphlet language that refers to a fetus as an “unborn human being.”
Arizona for Abortion Access has filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Wednesday, asking a judge to exclude language that a Republican-dominated legislative group advocated for from the initiative’s summary. The summary will appear in a pamphlet that voters can use to decide how to cast their ballots.
Abortion rights are a central issue in Democratic campaigns in this year’s electionsVariations on Arizona’s ballot initiative, which would ask voters whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state constitution, have been proposed in six other states: Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. New York also has a measure that proponents say would protect abortion access.
The Arizona abortion rights group says the brochure’s summary should simply use the word “fetus” and argues that “unborn human being” is a politically charged phrase meant to provoke opposition to the measure.
“Arizona voters have a right to clear, accurate and impartial information from the state before they are asked to vote on ballot initiatives,” the group said in a statement. “The Arizona Legislative Council’s decision fails to meet that responsibility by denying the request to use the neutral, medical term ‘fetus’ instead of ‘unborn human’ in the 2024 general election publicity pamphlet.”
The proposed constitutional amendment would allow abortions in Arizona until a fetus can survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions to save the woman’s life or protect her physical or mental health. It would restrict the state from passing or enforcing laws that would prohibit access to the procedure.
Arizona currently has a ban on abortions through 15 weeks.
Opponents of the proposed amendment in Arizona say it could lead to unlimited and unregulated abortions in the state.
Leisa Brug, manager of the opposition campaign It Goes Too Far, advocated the term ‘unborn human’.
“It should not come across as an advertisement for the amendment, but rather give voters a clear picture of what the current law requires and what the amendment would do if passed,” Brug said in a statement.
Organizers in Arizona said earlier this month that they had submitted 823,685 signatures, far more than the required 383,923 from registered voters. County election officials have until Aug. 22 to verify that enough signatures are valid and provide the results to the Arizona secretary of state’s office.