Rosie Villegas-Smith was spending a Saturday handing out flyers with volunteers from Voces Unidas, a pro-life nonprofit, when she noticed a bunch gathering signatures.
The woman who approached her never mentioned the word abortion, only referring to women’s rights, but she quickly realized what they were campaigning for: a ballot measure on expanding abortion access in Arizona within the November elections.
The southwestern state is certainly one of as much as a dozen across the country who will vote on abortion later this yr, a part of the continued reshaping of the legal landscape following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Arizona’s measure would enshrine the precise to an abortion within the state’s structure, overriding its current 15-week ban and allowing the procedure at any point in a pregnancy if a health care provider determines it’s essential to guard either the life or the physical and mental health of the mother.
The state has been in a back-and-forth over abortion policies for weeks, with pro-life groups ramping up efforts to achieve out to women who could also be considering abortions and to voters who may consider supporting expanding abortion access.
Last month, Arizona’s top court ruled that an 1864 law prohibiting abortion could go into effect in consequence of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. The controversial ruling got here under fire nationally; even former president Donald Trump and other high-profile Republicans suggested it went too far. Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the law as putting women in a “state of chaos and cruelty brought on by Donald Trump.”
A legislative repeal narrowly passed the state Senate 16–14 after two Republicans crossed the aisle to side with Democrats. One of the GOP lawmakers who voted against the bill, Sen. Shawnna Bolick, said that repealing the strict 1864 law, and leaving a more moderate abortion bill in place, may dampen efforts by abortion rights groups to place more expansive abortion measures on the ballot. “I’m here to guard more babies,” she said.
Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the repeal last week, which is slated to take effect 90 days after the legislative session ends this summer. There are legal efforts underway by the abortion rights groups asking the state supreme court to dam the 1864 law from going into effect within the interim.
A 2022 state law allows abortion until 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona, with an exception beyond that time if essential to avoid wasting the mother’s life. The 1864 law prohibited abortion at any stage in a pregnancy, with an exception for the lifetime of the mother.
“It’s imperative for pro-life residents in Arizona to teach themselves and their neighbors about this extreme constitutional amendment,” March for Life president Jeanne Mancini told CT. The measure, she said, would “open the floodgates to painful abortion up until birth, ending precious, innocent life and stripping women of the health and safety protections they need and deserve.”
Arizona for Abortion Access, which is campaigning in support of the brand new measure to solidify abortion protections within the state structure, says it has met the signature threshold to get the ballot. It’s now as much as the secretary of state to confirm the signatures.
“They’re not even comfortable with [15 weeks],” Villegas-Smith said. Pro-life groups like hers are addressing the implications of the proposed amendment and appealing to voters to guard life.
Villegas-Smith, who’s originally from Mexico, became enthusiastic about pro-life advocacy in consequence of watching friends suffer within the physical and emotional aftermath of their abortions. Her group also seeks to achieve out to minorities.
The largest group of girls receiving abortions within the state are Hispanic—in 2021, 43.8 percent according to the Arizona Department of Health Services—and Voces Unidas seeks to achieve minority women with information in addition to through support groups, baby showers, and in some cases, secure housing.
“We know that it’s very essential to present a message for hope, that the infant is a present from God, and so we organize baby showers for them and provides them a basket and a cake and a full celebration,” Villegas-Smith said, “especially for ladies who don’t have family support.”
The nonprofit isn’t explicitly religious, but Villegas-Smith said they often work with religious groups, and that most of the volunteers and employees discover as Christian or Catholic. Voces Unidas makes a practice of “praying for all times,” praying outside of abortion centers and on the capital before the vote over repealing the 1864 law.
Abortion policies could also be on the ballot in nearly a dozen states come November. In addition to Arizona, there are ballot measures in Florida and Maryland. Other states, akin to Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and South Dakota, are either within the signature-gathering process or have submitted signatures and are waiting for approval. New York’s ballot measure is facing blowback within the courts, making the fate of the hassle uncertain.
Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision reversing Roe, voters in a handful of states, including California, Michigan, Ohio, and Vermont, selected to guard and in some cases expand abortion access via ballot measures. Other states, like Kentucky and Kansas, voted down measures that might have restricted abortion.
“It’s sort of a wake-up call to us, to I feel Arizonans and Americans, that a 15-week abortion law isn’t enough,” said Kelsey Pritchard, state public affairs director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The group has a field team in Arizona canvassing ahead of the election.
“They’re on the bottom not only making the pro-lifers aware of what’s at stake here, but people sort of in the center as well. Because whenever you’re talking about health and safety, it’s not only a Republican pro-life thing. That’s something even pro-choice people care about,” Pritchard said. “That’s really something for all Arizonians to care about.”
