This Tucson woman refuses to vote GOP again because of the party’s stance on abortion

“This is definitely a one-issue election for me.”

Two years on from the reversal of Roe v. Wade, one Arizona woman swing voter won’t be satisfied until younger generations have the same reproductive rights that she had.

“I wasn’t politically active [when Roe happened],” said Pat, a Tucson woman. “But I was in high school and college before birth control and before abortion was legal.”

Pat, who is in her 70s and who prefers to be identified by only her first name, said in college she knew one woman who couldn’t have children after getting an illegal abortion.

“I rejoiced at the fact that Roe gave women the ability to create a place in society for themselves other than being someone’s wife or mother, if that is what they wanted,” Pat said.

The US Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision reversed the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which in 1973 decriminalized abortion nationwide and protected the right to access abortion federally. Dobbs eliminated those protections and gave each state’s government the ability to enact their own abortion policy.

Some states, including Arizona, had trigger laws that went into effect when Roe fell. A trigger law is a law that’s in place but is blocked from being enforced due to the existence of a different law. The territory of Arizona put an abortion ban in place in 1864, which Roe blocked from enforcement in 1973.

But when Dobbs reversed Roe, the 160-year-old law was triggered. After a dicey period when health care providers and women of reproductive age were in the dark about their reproductive rights, all Arizona Democrats and five Republicans came together to repeal the 1864 abortion ban earlier this year.

Arizonans will likely have the chance to protect abortion rights in the state with a citizen-led ballot initiative, appearing on voters’ Nov. 5 ballots. The ballot measure would constitutionally protect the right to an abortion in Arizona.

RELATED: This Tucson woman doesn’t trust the AZ GOP to protect access to contraceptives

Pat said she is a Christian, but doesn’t believe in the Christian nationalism movement that many who identify as “conservative” and Republican espouse. She doesn’t believe that the government should be in the business of telling women what to do with their bodies.

“I saw too much prior to Roe and what the lack of freedom to have an abortion did to women,” she said.

She said she’s voted for Republicans as recently as 2022, when she voted for Rep. Juan Ciscomani.

“I liked his economic viewpoints, but I won’t [vote for him] this time because he’s anti-abortion,” Pat said.

Ciscomani’s likely opponent, Kirsten Engel, lost to him by fewer than 6,000 votes in 2022.

Pat said her biggest priority in the 2024 election is reproductive rights, and she finds it impossible to support the Republican party because of their extreme stance on abortion.

“Right now, I trust the Democrats a lot more, and I’ve never been a one-issue voter,” she said. “I have voted Republican. I have voted for Democrats, but this is definitely a one-issue election for me.”

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