Opponents of Arizona abortion rights initiative campaign against 'extreme' proposal

A campaign opposing a proposed ballot initiative that would put abortion rights into the Arizona Constitution went public on Wednesday, declaring the measure threatens the safety of women and girls by allowing "unlimited abortion."

The opposition campaign and its affiliated political committee, both called It Goes Too Far, is the first coordinated effort to defeat the ballot measure that is likely to be one of the highest-profile issues this election year. Supporters of the ballot measure, Arizona for Abortion Access, launched their campaign last year and have begun gathering signatures from voters. Signature gathering is an initial, but big, step to put a question on the November ballot.

"The goal of It Goes Too Far is to stop this constitutional amendment that puts the health and safety of girls and women at risk just to expand abortion," said Olivia Escobedo, political director for It Goes Too Far.

"This is an education campaign," she added. "We are going across the state telling voters about what this deceptive ballot measure language really means."

Escobedo and It Goes Too Far say the proposed amendment language is vague and broad and "too extreme" as a result. Escobedo said the proposed amendment would allow abortions at any time in a pregnancy, permit minors to get abortions without their parents' knowledge, and greenlight all types of medical professionals — including chiropractors or podiatrists — to provide abortions.

Supporters of the ballot measure, who must gather over 383,000 voter signatures by early July to qualify for the ballot, pushed back on those claims.

The opposition has launched "a campaign that is already lying to voters in order to deny Arizonans their reproductive freedom," Chris Love, senior adviser to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona and a leader of the political committee backing the initiative, said in a statement.

The Arizona for Abortion Access Act instead ensures "people have the freedom to decide what is best for their own bodies and lives. The amendment would protect abortion access in our state and keep it regulated the same way as any other medical care," Love said in a statement.

The proposed amendment, if it qualifies for the ballot and wins a majority of voters in support, would create a "fundamental right" to obtain an abortion anytime before viability — which is typically around 23 or 24 weeks of gestation and is the point when a fetus would have a significant chance of surviving outside the womb.

After viability, the act prevents the state from enacting or enforcing any law that denies, restricts or interferes with an abortion that, "in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual."

It Goes Too Far is supported by the Center for Arizona Policy Action as well as other groups and individuals, Escobedo said, though she did not have numbers available about how broad that coalition was.

Center for Arizona Policy Action is the political arm of the Center for Arizona Policy. The organization's president, Cathi Herrod, has been a driving force behind abortion restrictions at the Arizona Legislature in recent decades and an outspoken critic of the abortion ballot measure. Center for Arizona Policy will also work separately to educate voters on the initiative, according to a spokesperson. Leisa Brug, campaign manager for It Goes Too Far, previously worked for the Center for Arizona Policy.

“Arizona abortion laws should protect girls and women, not put them at greater risk, but this amendment asks voters to expand abortion while cutting safety precautions," Brug said in a statement. "That makes no sense.”

Across the nation, abortion laws have been in flux since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark case Roe v. Wade in 2022. The decision gave the power back to states to determine abortion policy, and while some have protected access, many have imposed new limits or outright banned the procedure.

Against that backdrop, supporters of abortion rights have turned to ballot measures as a way to protect abortion in states where lawmakers have attempted to curb it. In all seven states that have had abortion-related ballot measures since Roe was overturned, voters have chosen to protect abortion access. Many of those states are traditionally conservative, including Kansas and Ohio.

The language used by It Goes Too Far is similar to that used by abortion opponents elsewhere, including in Ohio during a November campaign, something abortion rights advocates in Arizona immediately flagged.

"They’re using the same tired playbook of voter intimidation and confusion that we saw fail across the country, and Arizonans will see right through it," Love said.

But Escobedo made a distinction between voters in Arizona and other states where abortion had been banned or limited to very early in a pregnancy.

"Arizona, number one, is not Ohio," Escobedo said. "We think for ourselves. And in Arizona, abortion is legal up to 15 weeks. That's already four months and voters support limits."

As a preemptive move ahead of the Supreme Court decision, the Arizona Legislature in 2022 passed a bill limiting abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed the bill into law. That law, which seemingly conflicts with a pre-statehood ban on abortion, is now being debated by the Arizona Supreme Court.

While things settle in court, abortion continues to be a prominent political issue. Democrats hope the question of protecting abortion rights will mobilize their voters in numbers that could tip races up and down the ballot. Arizonans this year will elect a president, U.S. senator and all 90 state lawmakers, among other races.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at [email protected] or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona abortion opponents say proposed initiative 'goes too far'