Protesters oppose effort trying to repeal abortion law

Hundreds of protesters filled the Arizona Capitol Wednesday to oppose a bill that would repeal a law that requires doctors to attempt to save babies born alive during abortions.

Rep. Raquel Terán, D-Phoenix, introduced House Bill 2696 that would erase the 1975 law that states doctors must use all “available means and medical skills” to save the baby.

But Terán said she made a mistake in filing the bill. She said she intended only to repeal a 2017 law that broadened the 1975 measure and blamed a drafting error for the situation.

The House Committee on Judiciary debated the bill despite Terán’s request that it be held.

As debate on the bill began, Terán repeatedly pleaded with the committee’s chairman, Rep. John Allen, RScottsdale, to withdraw it from debate.

“The responsibility for this mistake is mine & I have apologized to all involved for not reading it closer to ensure that my intent was clear,” Terán posted on Twitter minutes before the hearing.

Allen refused her request, saying the bill was sponsored by numerous Democrats who should be willing to debate a bill they co-sponsored.

“This is a core value of a lot of members on the other side of the aisle who signed onto this bill,” he said as Terán repeated her request to hold the bill. “It’s a discussion worth having.”

Republicans on the committee forced the debate to proceed.After a few hours, the bill was voted down 8-0, with two Democratic lawmakers voting present in protest over the factTerán wasn’t allowed to pull her own bill.

The version of the bill they voted on had been amended to cover only the 2017 expansion.

More than 300opponents filled the hearing and watched from two overflow rooms and the House gallery. Many arrived carrying signs calling abortion “murder” or “infanticide.” They showed up after antiabortion groups raised alarms.

“Babies surviving an abortion deserve an Arizona law that protects their freedom to live,” said Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy.

“Repeal of the 2017 law would set Arizona back to a time when babies surviving an abortion were simply left to die.”

Democrats have called the move partisan “political theater.” They said Allen and Republicans exploited Terán’s mistake to stir a divisive fight over abortion when it was clear there weren’t enough votes to pass the bill.

Terán said a Republican on the committee told her beforehand that “today was going to be a circus and they intended to be part of the circus.”

Rep. Kirsten Engel, D-Tucson, said she was “disappointed” that Allen refused to hold the bill when Terán insisted it was incorrectly drafted. She said committee chairs in the House routinely hold bills at a sponsor’s request.

Engel and Rep. Domingo DeGrazia, D-Tucson, both voted “present” in protest of how Republicans handled the hearing.

“Her concerns were personal with a law that (is) much more intrusive into the doctor-patient relationship that was passed in 2017,” Engel told committee members.

Terán said the intent of her bill was to repeal Arizona’s controversial 2017 fetal resuscitation law.

State statute, via the 1975 law, already required doctors to use all means to save the life of a baby “delivered alive” during an abortion, but it didn’t define that term.

Medical experts have said that gave them flexibility to do everything possible to save the life of the fetus only if they believe it has a chance of surviving.

The 2017 law defines “delivered alive” as showing one or more of these signs of life: breathing, a heartbeat, umbilical cord pulsation or definite movement of voluntary muscles.

Critics say the law requires doctors to attempt to save fetuses aborted because of a fatal anomaly or a medical complication with the pregnancy.

Due to Arizona’s definition of abortion, it applies not only to traditional elective abortions, but also to any instance in which something is done to cause the early delivery of a baby when the baby is not expected to live.

Terán told lawmakers the story of her sister who had a miscarriage several years ago, in her 24th week of pregnancy.

Terán said had the 2017 law been in place, her sister would have been deprived of the opportunity to hold her baby during its final few minutes of life. She has called the law “fetal torture.”

“If this law would have been (in) effect, they would have taken the baby from her arms for hopeless medical procedures,” Terán said.