Dear Colleagues,
This past week, we watched as years of hard work finally paid off for our local reproductive justice advocates. Our Democratic State Legislators, joined by a few members of the Republican caucus, acted swiftly to respond to the Arizona State Supreme Court’s decision upholding an 1864 law that would have set us back 160 years to an era long before women’s suffrage.
We want to especially commend the actions of Senator Anna Hernandez and Representative Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton for bringing the bills forward and for working diligently within their caucus to get this repeal done smoothly. We also want to commend the efforts of our reproductive justice advocates like Athena Salman, current Executive Director of Reproductive Freedom for All, and former state representative who has been attempting to repeal this ban from our statutes since 2019.
Although we are celebratory, we acknowledge that this is just the beginning of the necessary steps to improve abortion access within Arizona. Throughout the legislative repeal, we heard the use of disconcerting language for public policy like inaccurate descriptions of abortion services, biblical terms, and a fetal heartbeat to describe why the legislature should have control over a pregnant person’s body. Once the repeal is effective, abortion in Arizona will default to the existing 15-week restriction. Looking forward, there are ongoing discussions of attempts to confuse our voters in November with conflicting ballot initiatives that would steer them away from the Abortion ballot initiative. Arizona is on the precipice of pursuing real reproductive justice and we are looking forward to aiding our groups on the front lines to continue making that a reality.
Sincerely, Katia Jones
Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona
Chief Executive Officer