Arizona abortion advocates submits signatures to state’s secretary

UPDATE (12:16 PM): Planned Parenthod Advocates of Arizona has issued the following statement on the petition submission:

"Today, we have reached a major milestone towards protecting reproductive freedom in Arizona. With over 800,000 signatures of support officially being turned in to put the Arizona Abortion Access Act on the ballot this November, we are one step closer to codifying abortion access in the state constitution.

This has been a team effort and we are so thankful to the volunteers, organizers, and community partners across the state who teamed up with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona to knock on doors, educate voters, and mobilize them to take action and sign these petitions. We collectively reached one in five Arizona voters, and without them, this would have never been possible.

While today is a great day, we must not become complacent as our fight is far from over. It is essential we continue our work in the weeks and months ahead to ensure Arizonans show up in November to make their voices heard and secure reproductive freedom for all."

Erika Mach, Chief External Affairs Officer, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona

PHOENIX (KYMA, KECY/NBC) - Advocates for Arizona for Abortion Access has announced that they're submitting signatures to the Arizona State Secretary on Wednesday.

According to a press release obtained by NBC News, the annoucement comes after nine months of "statewide signature collection efforts by more than 7,000 volunteers and other circulators.

During Wednesday's press conference, they said that they have 822,460 petition signatures to deliver to state lawmakers at the State House in Phoenix in hopes of getting the abortion rights issued on Arizona's general election ballot in November.

"That is a number. That is a good number. This is what a winning campaign looks like. This is what democracy looks like," said Viri Hernandez with Arizona for Abortion Access.

However, they need 383,923 of those signatures to be deemed valid. If that happens, Arizona voters will be asked in November whether to enshrine in the state constitution the right to an abortion.

"In Arizona, we value our personal freedoms. Across political leanings, ages, sexes and locations, our voters support women having control over their healthcare decisions, and perhaps above everything else, they want politicians out of this most personal equation."

Susan Ashley, Arizona for Abortion Access

To watch the livestream of the announcement, see attached video.