Arizona abortion initiative backers sue to remove ‘unborn human being’ from voter pamphlet language

PHOENIX (AP) — Backers of a November abortion rights ballot initiative have sued a GOP-led legislative committee that seeks to include proposed language for the voter pamphlet referring to a fetus as an “unborn human being.”

Arizona for Abortion Access filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Wednesday, asking that a judge refuse to allow the language favored by a Republican-dominated legislative group for the initiative summary. The summary will appear on a pamphlet voters can use to decide how to cast their ballots.

Abortion rights is a central issue in Democratic campaigns in this year’s elections. Variations of Arizona’s ballot initiative, which will ask voters if abortion rights should be enshrined in the state constitution, have been proposed in six other states: Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. New York also has a measure that advocates say would protect abortion access.

The Arizona abortion rights group says the pamphlet summary should simply use the word “fetus,” and argues that “unborn human being” is a politically charged phrase aimed at provoking opposition to the measure.

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