An Arizona voter initiative may be the only way to salvage women's reproductive rights

The question for Arizonans now is: Who gets to decide if women should have autonomy over their own bodies?

The U.S. Supreme Court has had its say, striking down Roe v. Wade. But this is too big to be answered by a handful of justices.

And it’s too big a question to be decided by a slim Republican majority in the Arizona Legislature.

It’s a question that should be decided by us.

All of us.

Republicans. Democrats. Independents. And all the rest of us.

Arizonans are working on an initiative

And, hopefully, we’ll get that chance.

There’s not a lot of time left to make that happen. A group calling itself Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom has been working on an initiative drive to put the question on the ballot.

But it must collect 350,000 valid signatures by July 7. (Meaning, they could use your help.)

Dr. Victoria Fewell, an OB-GYN and chair of Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom, issued a statement after the court’s decision was announced that says:

“The Supreme Court’s catastrophic ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is one of the worst in our nation’s history. The decision will result in violation of the fundamental right of all women to comprehensive reproductive healthcare and privacy. It will have direct, immediate and devastating effects for millions of people across the United States, affecting marginalized women and families disproportionately. We must urgently pass a constitutional amendment that protects access to this vital medical procedure.”

Banding together: How abortion providers will help each other after Roe

If it gets on the ballot, the question before Arizona voters would be relatively simple. It reads in part, “Neither the state nor any political subdivision shall restrict, penalize, frustrate or otherwise interfere with the exercise of the right to reproductive freedom, including: any individual’s access to contraception: pre-viability medical and surgical termination or pregnancy; or medical and surgical termination of pregnancy when necessary to preserve the individual’s health or life.”

Even on the ballot there are obstacles

This would not mean that all abortion restrictions would go away.

The proposal is tied to viability and is meant, more than anything, to keep the most radical elements of the anti-abortion movement from banning abortion completely and compelling even the victims of rape or incest from being forced to carry the pregnancy to term.

Should the initiative’s supporters succeed, the next great obstacle will be dealing with a hugely well-funded disinformation campaign that is guaranteed to follow.

Keeping the language of the initiative to only four paragraphs will help with that. But it won’t stop opponents from trying the muddy the waters, frighten people and put forth who knows what kind of bizarre conspiracy theories.

And, of course, there would be legal challenges to be filed.

It boils down to a simple question

It will be up to individual states, now, to determine whether their residents have what Dr. Fewell called “the fundamental right of all women to comprehensive reproductive healthcare and privacy.”

In more simple terms the basis question is:

Should women control their bodies or should the state?

That’s it. That’s all there is to it.

And who is better to answer that?

A handful of judges?

A small gang of lawmakers?

Or all of us?

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Voter initiative could help salvage women's reproductive rights