Arizona advocates fight GOP anti-abortion measures

Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari joined fellow Arizona activists, storytellers, and medical professionals at the State Capitol last week to reflect on the third anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision, which returned abortion regulation to the states and prompted a slew of bans nationwide.

The event was hosted by Free and Just, a reproductive rights organization, in partnership with the Arizona Student Association, Common Defense, Men4Choice, Planned Parenthood Arizona, Reproductive Freedom for All Arizona, and the Supermajority Education Fund.

For Heidi Ross, a storyteller for the event, this fight is personal. Twenty-five years ago, she went into heart failure during pregnancy due to peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare form of heart failure that can occur in women between the last month of pregnancy and five months of delivery. 

Today, she worries about a new generation of women who might not have access to the abortion services that kept her alive.

“When I was pregnant, I needed an abortion to protect my life and ensure I would be here to take care of my sons at home,” said Ross. “Now, due to anti-abortion laws, there is a fear of criminalization for health care providers, and I might not have been able to access the life-saving care I needed.”

In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and Arizona felt the impact.

In April 2024, the conservative-leaning Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total ban on abortion adopted in 1864 was again the law of the land. Amid a national uproar and political upheaval, the Legislature repealed the 1864 ban two weeks after the state court’s ruling, leaving the state with a 15-week ban.

Last November, Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 139, enshrining abortion access in the state constitution, and ending the 15-week limit on abortion care. Under the new law, patients in Arizona can receive abortion services up to the point of fetal viability. Abortions beyond that point are permitted to protect the life, physical, or mental health of the mother.

Proposition 139 also prohibits any law that penalizes individuals for helping someone obtain an abortion, including health care professionals who might have otherwise faced criminal charges for providing abortion services.

At last week’s rally, activists honored the passage of Proposition 139 while expressing concerns about the 50 other restrictions on abortion services, along with warnings about the Republican-led state legislature that introduced bills this session aimed at undoing the measure’s victory. 

Dr. DeShawn Taylor, a women’s health and reproductive rights advocate and owner of Desert Star Family Planning in Phoenix, slammed the 50 restrictions on abortion care, claiming they prevent her from providing care to patients who need it most.

“When there is chaos and confusion about whether abortion care is legal or not, patients do not seek the care they need. Those who have the means to, will leave the state unnecessarily,” Taylor said. “And doctors like me are forced to choose between anticipatory compliance, with unjust cause, or risk our careers and freedom.”

In May, reproductive rights advocates sued the state to challenge several laws regulating abortion in the state, including those that bar abortions sought based on genetic abnormalities, require informed consent in-person at least 24 hours in advance, mandate an offer to view the ultrasound, and prohibit mail delivery of abortion medication and telehealth for abortion care.

While Arizonans voted in favor of expanded access to abortion, some Arizona lawmakers have doubled down on anti-abortion measures.

Rep. Rachel Keshel, a Republican legislator from Tucson and member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, introduced a new ballot referral earlier this year to change the language of the amendment and essentially flip the meaning of Prop 139, giving the state power to make laws restricting abortion whenever doing so is “rationally related to a legitimate state interest.”

The Republican legislator also introduced legislation to HB2681, legislation that would impose a long list of new restrictions and requirements on those seeking medication-induced abortions. All but one Republican in the House voted in favor of the bill.

In March, the Arizona GOP introduced legislation that critics called a “backdoor abortion ban,” 

HB2457, introduced by Arizona Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-Benson) would have made it illegal for healthcare providers to receive state funding if they even mention abortion as an option to a pregnant patient. 

None of these measures were successful, but advocates warn that the effort to undermine abortion rights in Arizona may only be gaining momentum.

“These extremists were never going to stop at ending Roe v. Wade,” said Athena Salman, Reproductive Freedom for All Director of Arizona Campaigns. “Make no mistake: Recent actions by Trump, Rep. Ciscomani, Rep. Schwiekert and state republican lawmakers are thinly veiled efforts to ban abortion nationwide, including here in Arizona.”