LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Ƶ Organizers of an effort to scale back ArkansasƵ abortion ban said they have more than enough signatures to try to put their proposal before voters in NovemberƵs election.
Arkansans for Limited Government submitted petitions said they turned in more than the 90,704 signatures from registered voters needed to qualify. Election officials now must begin checking the validity of the signatures.
The submission brings to six the number of states where election officials are validating signatures on abortion measures. TheyƵre already on the ballot in another five, plus a proposed amendment in New York that would bar discrimination based on Ƶpregnancy outcomes.Ƶ
Supporters of other abortion measures in Arizona and Nebraska submitted petitions in their respective states on Wednesday.
The fate of the measures could reshape or confirm the trendlines that have developed in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion.
HereƵs a look at the abortion measures that could be on ballots in November:
COLORADO
ColoradoƵs top election official confirmed in May that a measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, including requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover it, made the ballot for the fall election.
Supporters said they gathered more than 225,000 signatures, nearly double the requirement of over 124,000 signatures. Amending the state constitution requires the support of 55% of voters.
Abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado.
FLORIDA
The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a ballot measure to legalize abortion until fetal viability could go on the ballot despite a legal challenge from state Attorney General Ƶhley Moody, who argued there are differing views on the meaning of ƵviabilityƵ and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not properly defined.
To take effect, the measure would need agreement from at least 60% of voters.
Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, under a law that took effect May 1.
MARYLAND
Voters also will be asked this year to enshrine the right to abortion in MarylandƵs constitution. The state already protects the right to abortion under state law and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Abortion is allowed in Maryland until viability.
NEVADA
The Nevada Secretary of State Ƶs office announced in June that a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has met all of the requirements to appear in front of voters in November.
Under the amendment, abortion access for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, or later to protect the health of the pregnant person, would be enshrined. Such access already is ensured under a 1990 law.
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota voters will vote this fall on a measure to ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow the state, in the second trimester, to Ƶregulate the pregnant womanƵs abortion decision and its effectuation only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.Ƶ
An abortion ban would be allowed in the third trimester, as long as it included exceptions for the life and health of the woman.
Opponents have sued to try to take the initiative off the ballot.
ARIZONA
Abortion rights supporters submitted more than 823,000 signatures on Wednesday to put an abortion access measure before voters in November. ThatƵs more than twice as many as required.
Under the measure, the state would not be able to ban abortion until the fetus is viable, with later abortions allowed to protect a womanƵs physical or mental health.
Abortion is currently legal for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy in the state.
ARKANSAS
Proponents of an amendment to allow abortion in many cases turned in more than 101,000 signatures Ƶ at least 10,000 more than needed. The group also said it surpassed a state requirement that a minimum number of signatures come from 50 counties.
The measure would bar laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the womanƵs health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth.
Because it allows abortion to be banned 20 weeks into pregnancy, the proposal does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state currently bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions.
Election officials have 30 days to check the validity of signatures. The group could qualify for additional time to circulate petitions if at least 75% of signatures are found to be valid, statewide and in the 50 counties.
MISSOURI
Missouri abortion rights advocates turned in more than 380,000 signatures for a measure asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion until viability. Local election officials have until July 30 to verify the signatures, then itƵs up to the secretary of state to declare whether there were enough.
Abortion is currently banned in Missouri at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.
MONTANA
Abortion rights proponents in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the government from denying the right to abortion before viability or when itƵs necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
Abortion is legal until viability in Montana under a 1999 Montana Supreme Court opinion.
NEBRASKA
Competing abortion measures could come before voters in November.
One would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution until viability.
The other would write into the constitution the current law which bars abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions.
