We have fought anti-abortion forces before and can do it again

Lest we forget, Arizona has a history of standing up for democracy, social justice and personal freedoms.

In 2020, a majority of Arizona voters in a fair and fraud-free election rejected the extremism of the increasingly autocratic Donald Trump, casting the state’s electoral votes for pro-choice candidate Joe Biden.

This was hardly the first time Arizona’s “better angels” have prevailed.

For instance: In 1988, the efforts of a vast coalition of organizations and individuals across America and in Arizona played a major role in the defeat of Robert Bork’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, 34 years later, in caustic and dismissive language, Justice Samuel Alito has echoed Judge Bork’s antipathy toward the Roe v. Wade decision and consequently, toward a woman’s competence to make her own private healthcare decisions.

In 1992, Pro-Choice Arizona, a diverse group of Arizonans — Republicans, Democrats, and independents — coalesced to expose the dangers of passing the Preborn Child Protection Amendment To The Arizona Constitution.

This initiative, if passed, would have banned virtually all abortions in Arizona, and potentially, most forms of contraception — but it was soundly defeated, statewide, 69% to 31%.

In 1996, Arizona’s pro-choice Republican women helped to provide the winning margin for President Clinton’s reelection victory over anti-abortion Senator Bob Dole, making Clinton-Gore the first Democratic ticket to prevail in Arizona in 50 years.

It has become increasingly clear that the great majority of current Republican lawmakers — local, state and federal — support the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and with that support, have rejected one of the basic tenets of women’s autonomy and equality. It seems that they are convinced that depriving women of the right to make their own health-care decisions is the surest path to re-election.

Let’s prove them wrong.

Find out where the candidates on your 2022 ballot stand, not only regarding reproductive freedom, but on the whole range of personal liberty and privacy issues. Ask yourself: Should we allow the government — strangers, really — to use its power to intrude into our private lives and make our most personal decisions for us?

Clearly, then, the ultimate question is, as it always has been: Who decides? If your conclusion is “I should,” then use your voice.

Vote for choice.

Beryl Sweet, Phoenix