PHOENIX — Arizonans appear poised to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitution. But judges, not voters, may have the last word.
The battleground state is one of several where right-leaning groups are backing conservative judges as they prepare to challenge in state supreme courts newly passed ballot measures protecting the procedure.
These historically overlooked judicial races — in places like Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Texas — are attracting millions of dollars in donations this cycle from national and state groups on both sides of the abortion-rights fight, including Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, SBA Pro-Life America and National Right to Life.
In Arizona, progressive groups are holding events and knocking on doors to make GOP-appointed state Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King the first in state history to lose a retention vote by reminding voters the pair ruled this year to uphold an 1864 law criminalizing nearly all abortions.