Indivisible

Content Warning: Pregnancy Loss

Indivisibles,

At 23-weeks, an Arizona mother received the devastating news her pregnancy was not viable. But the law was clear: She could not get an abortion. The state required her to carry the fetus to term, to go into labor, to deliver a child her doctors knew could not survive more than a few painful hours.

Another woman was given the same shattering news, though early enough that she was allowed to terminate the unviable pregnancy. But Arizona law required her to get an invasive, medically unnecessary procedure and be counseled about alternatives like adoption -- alternatives that obviously did not apply to her tragic situation.

An Arizona pharmacy denied a 14-year-old her life-saving medication, one she’d been taking for years, because in large enough doses, it could be used to terminate a pregnancy.

This is the cruel reality of Arizona’s abortion ban. Not the draconian 1864 law that’s dominated recent headlines, but the ban the Republican legislature passed in 2022 that rips reproductive choices away from families and doctors, forces people to carry pregnancies against their will, and increases their risk of long-term injury and death.

Today we are genuinely relieved that a couple Republican lawmakers in Arizona’s GOP-controlled Senate joined with Democrats to repeal the 1864 ban. The repeal will save lives.

But we need to be clear on a few things:

Republicans have blocked repeal more than 10 times in the past few weeks, and their refusal to act earlier will mean that the total abortion ban will likely become enforceable at some point -- possibly for months -- before the repeal law takes effect.
Only five GOP lawmakers voted for repeal. 42 voted in favor of the Civil War-era law!
When the 1864 repeal goes into effect, Arizona will still have a 2022 abortion ban on the books for which Trump and Arizona Republicans are responsible.

Republicans may think today’s repeal will placate voters. They are sorely mistaken. Indivisible activists will not rest until abortion rights are enshrined in Arizona’s Constitution, and anti-choice lawmakers -- from their state legislators to Donald Trump -- pay a steep political price for stripping away our freedoms.

If you’d like to help Indivisibles put an abortion rights amendment on the ballot and continue mobilizing pro-choice voters to defeat anti-abortion extremists in a crucial swing state, please chip in here >>

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There’s only one reason that Arizona Republicans allowed the repeal of the total 1864 abortion ban many of them recently supported and Senate candidate Kari Lake called “amazing” only two years ago: They are terrified by the pro-choice groundswell coming for them this November.

They’re right to be scared. After the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated the 1864 abortion ban weeks ago, Indivisibles held massive rallies across the state. The demonstration in Scottsdale was one of the largest in the city’s history.

Events collecting signatures to get the Arizona Abortion Access Amendment on the ballot this November have been packed with community members. Volunteer signups shot up by 50% overnight.

National Republicans and the state GOP hope that taking this 1864 law off the books will blunt this momentum and make their brand less toxic come November. They’re already seeing political fallout, with election experts downgrading Arizona’s Senate race from toss up to leans-Dem and a must-win House race from leans-Republican to toss up.

But we aren’t slowing down. We’ll take a moment to celebrate the repeal of the 1864 ban, because it is truly a ghastly piece of legislation, but as we celebrate we’ll be reminding voters of a few things that’ll be on their ballot this November:

Two judges who voted to reinstate the 1864 ban are up for election.
The state lawmakers who backed the 1864 ban and the 2022 ban will be up for reelection.
There are two Republican members of the US House who cheered the end of Roe serving in districts Biden won. Flipping those seats could help us retake the House.
There’s a vital senate race between anti-abortion extremist Kari Lake and pro-choice Democrat Ruben Gallego this November. A Gallego win could not only protect our Senate majority, but help us repeal the filibuster and codify abortion rights nationally.
There’s a presidential contest this November where the guy who ended Roe (and brags about it) has virtually no chance at reelection without Arizona’s electoral votes.
Thanks to the work our activists and allies are doing, we’re nearing our signature goal for our abortion rights ballot initiative.

We know we email about what’s going on in Arizona a lot, but this list shows why: Turning out our coalition in this one state could help restore our Democratic trifecta nationally. And Republican extremism -- be it the 1864 ban or the 2022 ban that’ll replace it -- has given our coalition a very good reason to turn out and vote in record numbers.

Republicans have stepped in it big time, and we have a chance to make them pay for their extremism and cruelty in a big way.

But Republicans being Republicans, they’re not going to make this easy for us. They’re going to challenge every signature they can in court, and they’re also telegraphing their plans to put competing measures on the ballot to confuse voters -- really sinister stuff that sounds like it protects choice but actually just preserves the ban they have in place.

So we’ve got to keep collecting signatures. We’ve got to keep talking to every single voter we can so they’re informed about the stakes. We’ve got to win up and down the ballot in Arizona so we can put an end to MAGA attacks on reproductive rights in all 50 states.

If you have a few dollars to chip in to help our activists do it, please chip in today. Let’s demonstrate our momentum won’t be blunted: We’re in this to win.

If you've saved your information with ActBlue Express Lane, your donation to Indivisible Action Arizona will go through immediately:

Contribute Monthly >>

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

Paid for by Indivisible Action Arizona with 90.71% from out-of-state contributors (indivisible.org). Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Your contribution will benefit Indivisible Action Arizona, an Arizona State PAC. Donations are not anonymous and will be reported to the Federal Election Commission and the Arizona Secretary of State.

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