ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) The Albuquerque's city clerk's office is checking signatures on petitions submitted Thursday to have voters decide whether to generally ban abortions once a fetus is 20 weeks old. Anti-abortion activists say they submitted more than twice the 12,091 voter signatures needed to add the proposal to the city's Oct. 8 ballot.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the proposal says the 20-week ban would not apply if an abortion is needed to save a pregnant woman's life. Similar restrictions enacted in other states face legal challenges. Courts have blocked 20-week abortion bans in Arizona and two other states from taking effect.