Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) signed a petition on Tuesday that calls for a public referendum to allow Arizonans to vote on whether to enshrine abortion access into the state’s constitution.
In remarks made before the media ahead of signing the petition, Hobbs claimed the abortion referendum is “about women’s ability to wholly participate and thrive in our society and our economy.”
“Arizonans need to understand exactly what’s at stake when pregnant women can’t get the help they need,” argued Hobbs. She said the petition will allow Arizonans “the opportunity to restore the freedom that was stripped away from women” when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The organization gathering the petitions for its “Arizona Abortion Access Act” revealed on its website that it must gather 383,923 valid signatures from Arizona voters by July 3, 2024. Reports indicate the group seeks to allow abortions until the baby is viable outside of the mother’s womb, which the National Institutes of Health notes is about 24 weeks, or six months into a typical pregnancy.
In her remarks, Hobbs also pledged to do everything within her power to expand abortion access in Arizona, citing her recent executive order that strips county attorneys of their authority to prosecute abortion-related crimes.
When her order faced intense scrutiny from Arizona Republicans, the governor reaffirmed she would not rescind the order. Hobbs argued it is within her “legal authority” to protect Arizonans from elected “extremists who want to prosecute women and doctors for their healthcare decision.” Hobbs signed the executive order in response to a 2022 law that restricts abortions in Arizona after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
During her gubernatorial campaign, Hobbs stated that she supported zero limits on abortion, arguing women should be free to have an abortion at any time during pregnancy.
Hobbs, while differentiating herself from former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, told CBS News “Face The Nation” that she supports “leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving the politicians entirely out of it.” She justified her stance by arguing that “late-term abortion is extremely rare,” and falsely claimed women only pursue them “because something has gone incredibly wrong in a pregnancy.”
As Arizona braces for a state-level abortion debate ahead of a possible referendum in 2024, its consequences remain unclear for candidates seeking federal offices. Though she will reportedly emphasize her new, independent status, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) was recently credited by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for being “extremely helpful” in Senate Democrats’ efforts to end the protest by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) over the Pentagon’s new policy which uses taxpayer dollars to fund travel for employees seeking abortion.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Katie Hobbs” by ABC15 Arizona.
