Arizona court approves words “unborn human being” for ballot measure description

The Supreme Court of Arizona on Wednesday ruled state officials could use the words “unborn human being,” instead of “fetus,” in a document describing an abortion ballot measure. The court ruled that the description for unborn babies was impartial and legally acceptable phrasing. It also overturned a lower court decision saying otherwise. The abortion ballot measure would grant mothers in the state the constitutional right to abort their unborn babies up until the point the babies can survive outside the womb, with exceptions after that point to save the mother’s life or protect her physical or mental health.

How did this come before the court? Arizona law requires the state’s legislative council to describe ballot measures with impartial language in informational pamphlets voters provided to voters. The legislative council called unborn babies “unborn human beings” in an information document they crafted for voters. The pro-abortion advocacy group Arizona for Abortion Access sued the legislative council alleging that the “unborn human being” phraseology was partial to pro-life advocates. A lower court initially sided with the pro-abortion advocacy group.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how Arizona voters will be seeing the abortion ballot measure on their ballots in November.