Arizona voters have approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion access up to fetal viability, typically after 21 weeks — a major win for advocates of the measure who have been seeking to expand access beyond the current 15-week limit.

Prop. 139 adds a fundamental right to abortion to the state constitution.

Arizona for Abortion Access, the coalition leading the campaign, gathered well over the 383,923 signatures required to put it on the ballot, and the secretary of state’s office verified that enough were valid. The coalition far outpaced the opposition campaign, It Goes Too Far, in fundraising. The opposing campaign argued the measure was too far-reaching and cited its own polling in saying a majority of Arizonans support the 15-week limit. The measure allows post-viability abortions if they are necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the mother.

Access to abortion has been a cloudy issue in Arizona. In April, the state Supreme Court cleared the way for the enforcement of a long-dormant 1864 law banning nearly all abortions. The state Legislature swiftly repealed it.

Read more ELECTION RESULTS

Voters in Arizona are divided on abortion.

In Tucson, Denisse García voted for the first time in her life. “The main reason I came is for 139, to support the right to choose,” she said at a vote center on Election Day.

Nancy Robins, a retired gynecologist and foster mother, voted and volunteered as a poll observer.

“Reproductive freedom is on the line this election everywhere and that is too important, especially to me,” Robins said at a vote center on Tuesday. “In my time as a gynecologist I have delivered babies but I have also seen ectopic pregnancies, women bleed out, all sorts of things that as a medical professional I was able to help and provide treatment for. But we’re now being faced with policies that would have prevented me from providing that care.”

As a foster parent, Robins said she understands the wounds that unwanted children feel from their parents and the abuse that can follow.

Kyle Lee, an independent Arizona voter, does not support the abortion ballot measure.

“All abortion is pretty much, in my opinion, murder from beginning to end,” Lee said.

Abortion issue influences legislative races

The Civil War-era ban also shaped the contours of tight legislative races. State Sen. Shawnna Bolick and state Rep. Matt Gress are among the handful of vulnerable Republican incumbents in competitive districts who crossed party lines to give the repeal vote the final push — a vote that will be tested as both parties vie for control of the narrowly GOP-held state Legislature.

Both of the Phoenix-area lawmakers were rebuked by some of their Republican colleagues for siding with Democrats. Gress made a motion on the House floor to initiate the repeal of the 1864 law. Bolick, explaining her repeal vote to her Senate colleagues, gave a 20-minute floor speech describing her three difficult pregnancies.

While Gress was first elected to his seat in 2022, Bolick is facing voters for the first time. She was appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to fill a seat vacancy in 2023. She has not emphasized her role in the repeal vote as she has campaigned, instead playing up traditional conservative issues — one of her signs reads “Bolick Backs the Blue.”

Voters rejected a measure to eliminate retention elections for state Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices.

The measure was put on the ballot by Republican legislators hoping to protect two conservative justices up for a routine retention vote who favored allowing the Civil War-era ban to be enforced — Shawnna Bolick’s husband, Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, and Justice Kathryn Hackett King. Since the measure did not pass, both are still vulnerable to voter ouster, though those races hadn’t been decided by early Wednesday morning.

Under the existing system, voters decide every four to six years whether judges and justices should remain on the bench. The proposed measure would have allowed the judges and justices to stay on the bench without a popular vote unless one is triggered by felony convictions, crimes involving fraud and dishonesty, personal bankruptcy or mortgage foreclosure.

Outcomes in other states voting on abortion

Arizona was one of nine states with abortion on the ballot.

Abortion rights amendments also passed in Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.

In Maryland, the abortion rights amendment is a legal change that won’t make an immediate difference to abortion access in a state that already allows it. It’s a similar situation in Montana, where abortion is already legal until viability.

Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they’ll need to pass it again it 2026 for it to take effect.

Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans.

Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated constitutional amendments, leaving bans in place. Most voters supported the Florida measure, but it fell short of the required 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.

Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy — before women often realize they’re pregnant. Despite the bans, the number of monthly abortions in the U.S. has risen slightly, because of the growing use of abortion pills and organized efforts to help women travel for abortion. Still, advocates say the bans have reduced access, especially for lower-income and minority residents of the states with bans.

The issue is resonating with voters. About one-fourth said abortion policy was the single most important factor for their vote, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide. Close to half said it was an important factor, but not the most important. Just over 1 in 10 said it was a minor factor.

Credits

This article includes reporting from Associated Press reporters Sejal Govindarao, Geoff Mulvihill and Christine Fernando. Associated Press reporters Hannah Fingerhut and Amanda Seitz contributed. Arizona Luminaria reporter John Washington and Kiara Adams contributed.