Today, I sent letters to the editors of newspapers around the state. Anti-choice legislators are aggressively pushing Senate Bills (SB) 1206 and 1138, companion bills to two pieces of legislation already approved by the House of Representatives. If adopted, these bills will be sent to Governor Brewer and surely become law.

For many years the Arizona state legislature has passed legislation that has been trying to undermine the rights of women. In the past we were lucky to be under the umbrella of Janet Napolitano’s vetoes, killing bills that would hurt the health of women.

In the next few days the Arizona Senate will consider House Bill 2564 /Senate Bill 1206. These legislators are very concerned about the government becoming involved in health care plans. There are certainly no such concerns about the government involving itself in the doctor/patient relationship when it comes to a woman’s decision about her health care.

Any state mandated “counseling” laws single out abortion from all other medical procedures. Implicit in the requirement of a mandated lecture is the assumption that women do not adequately think through their abortion decision and that the state must do their thinking for them. This assumption reflects a lack of respect for women’s decision-making ability.

Arizona List believes that women and doctors are intelligent enough to make competent medical decisions without the interference of the government and are insulted that the state legislature does not recognize this. Rep. Frank Antenori said there is “a duty to protect either our wives or our daughter from making decisions that may come back to haunt them further down the road in their lives.”

The legislature says the bill is helping women, but it is actually posing health risks. Advanced practice clinicians, certified nurse midwives, and physician’s assistants have been providing surgical abortions with impressive safety records for aver three decades. This legislation would overturn the will of the Arizona Board of Nursing and undermine its role in determining the scope of practice for Arizona nurses.

Either bill creates an unconstitutional undue burden and reduces access to care in rural and needy communities. According to Planned Parenthood abortion care will remain in only three Arizona communities. The mandated 24-hour waiting period will increase the costs these women will face in lost wages, child care and travel accommodations. If a woman is seeking an abortion because of a serious health situation, she would have already consulted with her doctor. The 24-hour waiting period could unnecessarily jeopardize her health.
The bill allows a pharmacist to override the directives of a doctor in filling a prescription and also allows a medical provider to refuse to proved services or information about services.

In January of 1999, Hillary Clinton said “we need to keep abortion safe, legal, and rare.” At the same time theses legislators are inserting themselves into a woman’s health care decisions they are unwilling to give a hearing to legislation which would actually reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies in Arizona. House Bill 2544 requires our schools to provide comprehensive, abstinence-based sex education. It is unlikely that this bill will even get a hearing.
The women of Arizona would be better served by legislators who focused on real solutions to our economic crisis rather than on reducing the health care services available to them.

Pam Grissom
Arizona List
P.O. Box 42294
Tucson AZ 85733
520-327-0520

We are asking our members to take action by contacting your own Senator and asking them to vote NO on SB 1206 and SB 1138 today.

Please click here to view the contact information of your district representatives and to view a sample letter to send them!