Anti-abortion groups rally at March for Life
Attendees seek defeat of state ballot measure
Thousands descended on the state Capitol on Friday for the Arizona March for Life, with a rally focused on defeating a potential ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Anti-abortion advocates and politicians spoke at the march, urging attendees to not sign petitions for the measure, known as the Arizona Abortion Access Act. It would amend Arizona’s constitution to allow abortions any time before viability, which is usually around 23 or 24 weeks of gestation, or after viability if a doctor determines it is necessary for the mother’s health.
Rep. Selina Bliss, R-Prescott, was among the speakers advocating against the ballot measure. Bliss was joined by several Republican lawmakers, who stood behind her as she spoke. The crowd peaked at about 3,000 people, according to an estimate from the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
“We in the Arizona Legislature urge every person to refuse to sign the Arizona Abortion Access Act on the ballot, as this is an assault on God’s value and sovereignty regarding the sanctity of human life,” Bliss said at the rally.
State Treasurer Kimberly Yee also spoke at the rally, saying “the work is not yet done” on preventing abortions.
Olivia Escobedo, the political director for the opposition group It Goes Too Far, called the ballot measure “dangerous” and “extreme.”
“Reasonable people can have all different opinions on abortion, but we can all agree that this goes too far,” Escobedo said, claiming the majority of Arizonans don’t support the measure.
According to an OH Predictive Insights poll from 2022, 41% of Arizonans say abortion should be legal under any circumstances, 46% say it should be legal only under certain circumstances and 13% say it should be illegal in all circumstances.
Katerina White attended the rally with the group Arizona Right to Life to advocate against the ballot measure, saying she’s “completely against it.”
“As someone who is pro-life, thinking that the state I was born in, grew up in could make abortion a fundamental right in our state constitution is extremely scary,” White said.
Eileen Riley, another attendee at the march, said she came out to support because the issue is “critically important.”
“You can’t be on the fence on this,” Riley said. “You have to take a stand and being here is taking a stand.”
The event comes a little over a month after the National Women’s March was held at the Capitol. That march was dubbed “Bigger than Roe” due to its focus on restoring abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Arizona’s abortion laws are still up in the air as the state Supreme Court weighs whether a 2022 law banning abortion after 15 weeks supersedes an 1864 total ban that went into effect after Roe was overturned. Democrats in the Legislature, backed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, introduced bills to repeal the 1864 abortion ban, but the legislation was never assigned hearings and will likely not make it to the governor’s desk.
The group behind the ballot measure, Arizona for Abortion Access, will need to gather nearly 400,000 signatures by July to ensure it appears on the ballot in November. In an emailed statement, Dawn Penich, a spokesperson for the group, said it is confident that Arizonans will approve the measure.
“The vast majority of Arizona voters believe we should have the right to make our own healthcare decisions, including the private and personal decision to have an abortion,” Penich said. “These extremist groups are out of step with Arizonans’ values, and we’ll see that in the results this November when voters show up to protect our reproductive freedoms once and for all.”
But activists at the rally said they would work to encourage voters not to sign petitions and prevent the measure from making it to the ballot at all.
“The majority of Arizonans do not support late-term abortion, but they don’t know the whole story and it is up to us to shine a light on what the other side is doing,” Escobedo said.