Chicago – August 14, 2024
Missouri and Arizona are the latest states to join six others in deciding on abortion rights in the upcoming presidential election. On Tuesday, Missouri officials approved a ballot initiative allowing voters to decide the future of the state’s total abortion ban. Similarly, Arizona officials announced on Monday that enough petition signatures were gathered to place an abortion measure on the November ballot.
These ballot measures will give voters the power to decide whether the right to abortion should be added to their states’ constitutions. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade over two years ago, 14 states have enacted total abortion bans, while others have sought to protect reproductive rights at the state level.
In Arizona, a law passed in 2022 bans abortion after 15 weeks. Dawn Penich, a spokesperson for the organizers of Arizona’s ballot measure, told USA TODAY that there is broad support for the issue across rural and urban areas, including conservative and progressive districts.
