Arizona Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, speaks at a news conference in opposition of legislation limiting reproductive health care access. Photo taken on March 5, 2025, at the Arizona Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
Reproductive Freedom For All Arizona and other abortion-rights advocates cheer as Arizona House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen, speaks at a news conference in support of abortion rights on March 5, 2025, at the state Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
Athena Salman, director of Arizona campaigns for Reproductive Freedom For All Arizona, during a news conference about abortion rights on March 5, 2025, at the state Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
Alison Marciniak, left, and Kori McClemens, an organizer for Arizona List, cheer during a news conference about abortion rights on March 5, 2025, at the state Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
Catherine Schwandt, left, and Betty Cronce cheer during speeches from Arizona Democratic legislators at a news conference on March 5, 2025, at the state Capitol. Schwandt and Cronce supported reproductive health care efforts when Roe v. Wade established abortion rights in 1973. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
Arizona House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen, speaks about efforts to uphold Proposition 139 and reproductive health care at a news conference on March 5, 2025, at the state Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – The organization Reproductive Freedom for All Arizona and Democratic legislators gathered at the state Capitol Wednesday morning to voice opposition to recent bills that would restrict reproductive rights.
To kick off its lobbying day, the group emphasized the importance last year of passing Proposition 139, which was a ballot initiative to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
“(Prop. 139) was a victory for the people, a victory for health care and a victory for our right to make decisions about our own bodies,” said state House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen. “But now, Republican politicians who think they know better than you are hell-bent on undoing that victory.”
The group specifically raised concerns about HCR 2058 and HCR 2025, two resolutions that focus on exceptions to abortion rights and amendments to the state constitution. They also objected to HB 2547, which would prohibit the state from entering a contract or funding anyone who performs or promotes abortions or who operates a facility where the procedure is performed. The bill was introduced by Rep. Lupe Diaz, R-Benson.
“One of the reasons I went ahead and I brought this about (is because) it was very evident that the abortion industry has a ton of money already,” Diaz said of his bill during a Feb. 19 committee hearing. “We don’t need to be using our tax dollars to promote, to fund or to even maintain the abortion industry.”
HCR 2058 was introduced by Rep. Rachel Keshel, R-Tucson. The resolution has not been picked up by a committee. HCR 2025 is primarily sponsored by Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, and had a third House reading today.
Santos said it is still important for voters to remain vigilant as bills have been revived later in previous legislative sessions.
Athena Salman, director of Arizona campaigns for Reproductive Freedom For All Arizona, speaks about abortion rights at a news conference on March 5, 2025, at the state Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)
Athena Salman, director of Arizona campaigns for RFAA, said she was excited to hear the Maricopa County Superior Court had ruled the state’s 15-week abortion ban unconstitutional Wednesday morning. However, she also said the ruling and Prop. 139’s effects were “just the beginning,” and that there are real threats to the proposition.
“Having served under the last Republican trifecta, where we had a hostile majority party in each … (chamber) and a governor (Doug Ducey) that did not respect the right to abortion, we just can’t let that happen again,” Salman said of her time as a state representative from 2017 to 2023. “So we are rolling up our sleeves.”
Catherine Schwandt, who attended the news conference with RFAA, advocated during the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and noted there was a previous appreciation for both sides of the aisle that doesn’t exist in the present.
“It wasn’t so divided, and so I think it’s just a power struggle, a power over women,” Schwandt said.
De Los Santos said his constituents are grateful for Prop. 139 because it gives them state-level protections amid federal rulings that have cut abortion access.
But they still face fears about the future of reproductive rights in Arizona.
“My constituents are shocked and scared,” he said. “They’re shocked that the politicians would try to override the will of the people, and they’re scared that their health care is going to be thrown into chaos and uncertainty.”
