Abortion rights ballot measures to go before voters Montana and Arizona
Updated on: August 21, 2024 / 5:26 AM EDT / CBS/AP Texas mother Kate Cox on reproductive rights Texas mother Kate Cox on reproductive rights 02:56 Voters in Arizona and Montana will be able to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in their state constitutions. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 200-word summary that abortion rights advocates used to collect signatures for a ballot measure is valid, clearing the way for the issue to remain on the ballot. The Arizona secretary of state’s office said last week it had certified 577,971 signatures – far above the required number that the coalition supporting the ballot measure had to submit in order to put the question before voters. Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen on Tuesday certified Montana’s constitutional initiative for the November ballot. Under both measures, abortions would be allowed until fetal viability – the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks. In Arizona, there are some exceptions for post-viability abortions to save the mother’s life or to protect