Proposition 139: Arizona voters approve abortion rights ballot measure

PHOENIX - Proposition 139, Arizona's abortion rights ballot measure, has been approved by voters, the Associated Press reports.

The measure, known as the Arizona Abortion Access Act, is one of a number of similar measures that voters decided on across the country on Election Day. In Arizona, the measure will amend Article II of the Arizona State Constitution by inserting a new section on the issue of abortion.

"Every individual has a fundamental right to abortion," read a portion of the measure.

The measure also bans the state from the following:

• Denying, restricting, or interfering with abortion rights before fetal viability, "unless justified by a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means."
• Denying, restricting or interfering with an abortion that takes place after fetal viability that, "in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is necessary to protect the life or mental health of the pregnant individual."
• Penalizing any individual or entity for "aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising the individual's right to abortion."

Proposition 139 defines fetal viability, for the purpose of the law, as "the point in pregnancy when, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus's sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures."

Read More: Proposition 139: What to know about the Arizona Abortion Access Act

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Arizona has seen a legal conflict involving two drastically different abortion laws. Of the two laws, one institutes a 15-week abortion ban for the state, and the other, which dates back to pre-statehood days, prescribes a criminal penalty for people who help a pregnant woman get an abortion.

Arizona was not the only state with an abortion rights measure on the ballot.

Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans in one of seven victories for abortion rights advocates, while Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving bans in place.

Abortion rights amendments also passed in Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they'll need to pass it again in 2026 for it to take effect. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of "pregnancy outcomes" prevailed in New York.