Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Denounces Anti-Choice State Senators for Passing 15-Week Ban on Abortion
Phoenix — Today, anti-choice lawmakers in the Arizona state Senate passed SB 1164, an extreme and unconstitutional ban on abortion after 15 weeks, with no consideration for a pregnant person’s circumstances. The bill passed by a 16-13 vote, with one abstention, and will now head to the state House of Representatives for a vote.
Following today’s vote, NARAL Pro-Choice America Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson released the following statement:
“With every harmful abortion ban and restriction Arizona Republicans force on their constituents, we are moving further and further away from the values of the 8 in 10 Arizonans who support reproductive freedom. Not only is SB 1164 a cruel ban on abortion, but it is almost an exact copy of bills that have dropped in other states. Neither this bill nor any of the anti-choice legislation moving in Arizona were written with the needs of our communities in mind. It is clear that Arizona Republicans, who hold just a two-vote majority in the legislature, are not listening to the majority of Arizonans who support reproductive freedom and believe people should be able to make their own decisions about pregnancy, parenthood, and abortion.”
Anti-choice lawmakers across the country are trying to conceal their extremism by moving the goalposts and dubiously framing their push for 15-week abortion bans as “moderate.” But bans that take away people’s freedom to make the best decisions for themselves and their circumstances and impose one-size-fits-all restrictions are always harmful. The barrage of bans, including 15-week bans, are part of the anti-choice movement’s agenda to block access to abortion care and interfere in decisions that someone should be free to make with those they love and trust.
The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hand down a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—a case regarding Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that directly challenges Roe v. Wade. If Roe fell tomorrow, 28 states, including Arizona, are expected to take action to prohibit abortion outright. Of those, 12 states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion automatically. The people hurt most by attacks on reproductive freedom are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; LGBTQ+ people; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.