15-week abortion ban will hurt poor women the most

Gov. Doug Ducey put many Arizonans' lives in peril signing SB 1164 into law, a measure making abortion illegal after 15 weeks.

The ban passed the Legislature along party lines. The law’s devastating effects, however, will fall along the line of the haves and have nots.

We have 90 days before the law goes into effect to be loud and clear: Abortion bans at any stage, including at 15 weeks, are dangerous for communities.

This ban will make abortion, an essential health care service, inaccessible and unavailable for people who cannot find funding for their procedure early in pregnancy, who are raped, and who face delays to accessing abortion because they do not have access to resources or support. Physicians who provide abortions after 15 weeks face punishment.

It will put pregnant people who experience serious medical complications during pregnancy that are not deemed enough of an “emergency,” at risk of dying.

The World Health Organization characterizes that lack of access to safe, timely, affordable and respectful abortion care as a critical public health and human rights issue. Inhumane restrictions such as those imposed by SB 1164 threaten our communities.

Women denied abortion services are more likely to experience high blood pressure and other serious medical conditions during the end of pregnancy; more likely to remain in relationships where interpersonal violence is present; and more likely to experience poverty.

I testified at a legislative hearing for SB 1164 about the abysmal maternal mortality rates that disproportionately affect women of color. A CDC report with 2020 data showed the rate for Black women dying significantly increased from 44 deaths per 100,000 live births to 55 deaths, and for Hispanic women 12.6 deaths to 18.2 deaths. Native American women have the highest maternal mortality rates: 70.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.

This means that in Arizona, Native American women face nearly four times the risk of dying compared to white women. These abysmal mortality rates have made these racial inequities devastatingly clear, especially when considering the additional impact of COVID-19.

In 2020, the most recent year for which Arizona has data, nearly 41% of patients seeking abortion care identified as Hispanic/Latino, and 12% identified as Black. The impact of bills restricting abortion clearly fall disproportionately on communities of color, jeopardizing their health and well-being.

Yet at the hearing, Republican lawmakers used Black Arizonans’ access of abortion care to falsely imply that abortion is harmful to the Black community.

Abortion is essential health care. Women of all ethnicities and walks of life can make their own reproductive health decisions. Nobody should deny them their autonomy and agency.

I know abortion bans and barriers to pregnancy care adversely and disproportionately affect women of color because I care for them. They share their experiences with me, and I trust their experiences to be real, valid and meaningful.

This country has a long and ugly history of trying to control the reproductive decisions of communities of color. Attempting to ban abortion care is grounded in this legacy.

I urge everyone to listen to women of color led reproductive justice organizations like Sister Song, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, In Our Own Voice, Indigenous Women Rising, and New Voices for Reproductive Justice.

Reproductive justice is the human right to have children, not have children, parent children in safe and healthy environments, and the right to bodily autonomy. These principles have guided my advocacy on behalf of my patients.

I believe that all legislators share the desire to ensure Arizonans lead their fullest and healthiest lives. Legislation such as SB 1164 does the opposite and will worsen our health disparities, increase maternal mortality and devastate our communities and families most in need.

Arizonans must join in community in saying loud and clear: abortion is health care that we need in our communities.