NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Endorses 16 Candidates for Election to the State Legislature - Reproductive Freedom for All

Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America

Press Release

NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Endorses 16 Candidates for Election to the State Legislature

For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 1, 2022
Contact: [email protected]

NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Endorses 16 Candidates for Election to the State Legislature

Phoenix Today, NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona announced its endorsement of 16 candidates running for election to the state House and Senate. Arizona and roughly half of the states in the country are at risk of banning abortion now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.

NARAL Pro-Choice Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson released the following statement: 

“NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona is proud to endorse this slate of reproductive freedom candidates for the state legislature. A razor-thin anti-choice Republican majority currently controls the legislature, and our 75,000 members in the Copper State will be pulling out the stops to elect leaders who will protect and advance our freedom to decide. This November, we’ll defeat the MAGA extremists attacking our reproductive freedom and elect lawmakers who will fight for the overwhelming majority of Arizonans—9 in 10—who know that each of us should have the freedom to decide how and when we start or grow a family, without political interference.”

State Senate Endorsements:

  • Thomas Dugger (LD 03)
  • Kyle Nitschke (LD 07)
  • Cindy Hans (LD 13)
  • Taylor Kerby (LD 16)
  • Mike Nickerson (LD 17)
  • Anna Hernandez  (LD 24)

State House Endorsements:

  • Rep. Jennifer Longdon (LD 05)
  • Anastasia Travers (LD 12)
  • Rep. Jennifer Pawlik (LD 13)
  • Keith Seaman (LD 16)
  • Dana Allmond (LD 17)
  • Brian Radford (LD 17)
  • Nancy Gutierrez (LD 18)
  • Sandra Clark (LD 19)
  • Jesus Lugo (LD 23)
  • Analise Ortiz (LD 24)

These endorsements come as NARAL Pro-Choice America is ramping up its work to elect candidates up and down the ballot during a critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 14 states have begun enforcing extreme or total bans on abortion.

These bans are out of touch with the values of the 90% of voters in Arizona who agree that each of us should have the freedom to decide how and when we start or grow a family, free from political interference. 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; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.

NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.

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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 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.