Arizona’s Proposition 139, which would enshrine a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution, would not allow non-medical professionals to perform abortions. Arizona law already prohibits non-medical professionals from administering medication abortions or performing surgical abortions, and those provisions would not change under Prop. 139 unless they were successfully challenged in court. 

Prop. 139 would limit the state’s ability to interfere with the right to an abortion up to the point that a medical professional determines the fetus could survive outside of the womb, generally 23 to 24 weeks.

The proposition would also prevent the state from penalizing someone for aiding anyone in exercising their right to an abortion, such as an aunt driving her niece to a hospital or a doctor referring a patient for care. 

This brief responds to conversations such as this one. 

The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.