Arizona and Missouri join states with abortion amendments on the ballot. What would the measures do?

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press Election officials in Arizona and Missouri this week announced that abortion-rights supporters in their states had gathered enough petition signatures to put proposed amendments on the ballot enshrining abortion rights into their states’ constitutions. The decisions mean voters in more than a half-dozen states will be deciding abortion measures this fall. The proposals are likely to drive up voter turnout, potentially affecting elections for president, Congress, governor and other state offices.

The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion with a 2022 ruling, which sparked a national push to have voters decide.

Since the decision, most Republican-controlled states have passed abortion restrictions, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access. Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions before voters since 2022 — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters.

MISSOURI Missouri voters will decide whether to guarantee a right to abortion with a constitutional amendment that would reverse the state’s near-total ban. The secretary of state’s office certified Tuesday that an initiative petition received more than enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the general election. It will need approval from a majority of vote.