PHOENIX — In a deadly and catastrophic ruling that strips Arizonans of their bodily autonomy, the Arizona Supreme Court today moved to reinstate a near-total abortion ban that dates back almost 200 years ago to the Civil War-era. The abortion ban will become enforceable in 45 days, criminalizing pregnant people and healthcare workers across Arizona and following a dangerous MAGA-led pattern of state-wide bans on reproductive care across the country.
Bruna Sollod, Senior Political Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“Today’s lethal decision from the Arizona Supreme Court is a blaring siren for what’s on the line this election year. Everyone deserves to have autonomy over their bodies, yet as the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022 proved, Trump and MAGA Republicans have mounted a decades-long attack on our courts and legislatures to take our country back centuries. Our freedoms–from our reproductive freedoms to our freedoms to move freely throughout the states we call home without being targeted by police–are being litigated and stripped back as we speak and in the very places we call home, from Arizona to Texas to Louisiana, Iowa, and more.
United We Dream Action is fired up and ready to fight this ban on all fronts and will do everything in our power to support our partners on the ground who are doing the same to protect the rights, lives, and safety of our communities. Pregnant immigrants are facing compounding attacks that aim to control their bodies. Just recently, Arizonans helped to defeat a dangerous bill that would allow state law enforcement to arrest people who they simply suspect of being undocumented, making every Black and brown person a target. That same bill is being considered in MAGA-led states across the country, just as these abortion bans are. No matter how hard MAGA extremists try to roll back social progress and strip away our fundamental rights as human beings, our communities will fight back even harder. We urge Arizonans to vote on the critical ballot measure in November that would protect reproductive and abortion rights.”
Alejandra Gomez, Executive Director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), said:
“We are not surprised by the Arizona’s Supreme Court’s blatant extremism. Their ruling today puts the lives of countless Arizonans at risk and robs us of our most basic rights—the right to make our own decisions about our own bodies free from government interference. Arizona families deserve the freedom to make their own decisions about pregnancy and abortion. To revert to an 1800’s era near-total ban that was put in place when women could not vote is completely out-of-step with the majority of Arizonans from across the political spectrum. It puts us in line with states like Louisiana and Arkansas where doctors are fleeing and patients are suffering and dying. No matter how you personally feel about abortion, most Arizonans agree these deeply personal decisions should be left to patients, their families, and their medical providers—not politicians. The continued rise of Republican extremism in our state underscores the urgent need for action! Now more than ever, LUCHA and partners are galvanized to ensure that Republicans pay the highest political price, and restore abortion access and bodily autonomy.”