PHOENIX -- Arizona voters are set to decide whether to guarantee the right to abortion in the state constitution — a vote that could cement access after the presidential battleground came close to a near-total ban earlier this year. Arizona is one of nine states with abortion on the ballot . Abortion-rights advocates are hoping for a win that could expand access beyond the state's current 15-week limit to the point of fetal viability, a term used by health care providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally or whether a fetus might survive outside the uterus.
Doctors say it's sometime after 21 weeks , though there's no defined time frame. Advocates also are counting on the measure to drive interest among Democrats to vote the party line up and down the ballot. When Republicans running in tough races address the ballot measure, they generally don’t dissuade voters from supporting it, though some like Senate candidate Kari Lake say they’re personally voting against it.
GOP U.S. Rep.
Juan Ciscomani, whose battleground congressional district encompasses Tucson, ran an ad saying he rejects "the extremes on abortion.” Arizona has been whipsawed by recent legal and legislative battles centered on abortion. In April, the state Supreme Court cleared the way for enforcement of a long-dormant 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions.
The Legislature swiftly repealed it. In addition to the abortion ballot measure itself, the issue could swa.