Ariz. abortion rights group files initiative

PHOENIX — A new group of abortion rights advocates on Tuesday filed an initiative to amend the Arizona Constitution to protect the right to abortion.

The effort by a group called Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom is a long shot to make the ballot as more than 356,000 signatures from registered voters are needed by July 7.

The move is in response to the leak of a draft United States Supreme Court opinion that suggested the high court may be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling giving women the constitutional right to an abortion. The final ruling is expected to be released by late June. Also driving the push is a new Arizona law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, some seven weeks before current law allows.

Arizona’s pre-statehood law that makes all abortions illegal is expected to go back in force if Roe is overturned.

Shasta McManus, treasurer of Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom and a board member of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said a coalition of abortion rights supporters formed quickly when the draft high court opinion was leaked.

“We all decided that we … have to act now,” McManus said. “As soon as this goes into effect, people’s lives are going to be irreversibly harmed.”

Arizona is one of at least 26 states that have either “trigger” laws that would ban all abortions if Roe is struck down or “zombie” laws that have not been enforceable since 1973, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports reproductive rights.

The proposed constitutional amendment would forbid government interference in a woman’s reproductive health decisions, and allow abortions until the fetus is viable, at about 23-24 weeks of pregnancy. It would allow abortions after that if the life or health of the mother is at risk, and also bar contraception limits.