By Hannah Elsmore | Arizona Capitol Times
A judge on Friday ruled that a legislative panel must choose a neutral phrase to replace “unborn human being” in the publicity pamphlet summary for a proposed ballot measure seeking to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution. He called the term “packed with emotional and partisan meaning,” and opponents of the measure said they are planning to appeal the ruling.
Arizona for Abortion Access filed a lawsuit July 10 to remove and replace what they called “politicized language” in the pamphlet description for their citizen initiative, Proposition 139, which would permit abortions up to fetal viability with exceptions for the mothers mental health.
Republican attorneys argued that the phrase should be kept because it is commonly used in state statute, but Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten, who was appointed to the bench by former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, didn’t buy it.
