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Legislation to Watch
Threats to choice are abundant in this year's crop of legislation. Without choice advocate Janet Napolitano's veto, many have a good chance of becoming law. NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona is committed to preventing these bills from advancing, but we cannot do it alone. We need vocal pro-choice advocates from the community to step up and be heard. If any of the bills below have a "take action" link, it means we need you to write, call or email your legislator. If you have any questions about these bills, or about how to contact your legislator, please contact our office! |
| Pro-Choice Legislation: |
| Schools; Sex Education |
| Bill Number: |
2544 [ view bill ] |
| Status: |
Not assigned to committee |
| Sponsor(s): |
Representatives Sinema, Heinz, Lujan, Schapira: Cajero Bedford, Campbell CH, Campbell CL, Farley, Meza, Reagan |
| Take Action: |
Click here to take action. |
This bill would require schools to implement comprehensive, medically accurate sex education curriculums. This bill would, among other things: 1. Require the information presented be medically accurate (peer reviewed), comprehensive (broaching subjects such as healthy relationships, decision making skills, abstinence, contraception and disease prevention)and age appropriate 2. Remove restrictions prohibiting the discussion of homosexual sex, remove restrictions from portraying homosexual activities in a positive way. 3. Give parents the power to request school boards review current curriculum to ensure it is medically accurate. Please call or email Speaker Adams and request this bill be assigned to committee. For Speaker Adams' email address click here, for the House of Representatives Switchboard, please call 1-800-352-8404 |
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| Anti-Choice Legislation: |
| Abortion |
| Bill Number: |
HB 2564/SB 1206 [ view bill ] |
| Status: |
Passed the House of Representatives, passed the Senate, signed into law July 13, 2009 by Governor Brewer. |
| Sponsor(s): |
Barto, Ash, Barnes, Biggs, Burges, Goodale, Gowan, Kavanagh, Lesko, Murphy, Nichols, Tobin, Yarbrough, Senators Pearce, Verschoor: Representatives Court, Crandall, Crump, Hendrix, Jones, Konopnicki, McComish, McLain, Montenegro, Pratt, Quelland, Seel, Stevens, Weiers JP, Senators Allen S, Gould, Gray C, Gray L, Harper, Huppenthal, Melvin, Nelson, Pierce, Waring |
| Take Action: |
Click here to take action. |
Wow, this bill is a doozie! It does more to limit choice in one bill than all of last year's bills combined! Among other things, this bill does the following: 1. Implements a 24 hour waiting period between requesting and receiving an abortion. 2. Prohibits all non-physician medical personal from performing the procedure (including nurse practitioners and physician assistants). 3. Further restricts a minor's access to abortion by outlining what a judge should consider when granting an abortion without parental consent. 4. Requires patients receiving an abortion be informed about the gestational age of the fetus, as well as its physiological development and anatomical characteristics. This bill has passed out of the House of Representatives and Senate and will be given to Governor Brewer for her signature soon. Please contact Governor Brewer to ask her not to sign this piece of legislation. Contact infomation for Governor Brewer is available at her website. Click on the "Take Action" link above to conact the governor.
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| Abortion; nurses prohibition |
| Bill Number: |
2554 [ view bill ] |
| Status: |
Assigned to Health and Human Services Committee |
| Sponsor(s): |
Rep: Seel, Hendrix. Sen: Lesko, Montenegro, Quelland, Weiers JP |
This bill prohibits all nurses from performing surgical abortions. Currently nurses provide between 35-40% of the surgical abortions in the state of Arizona. Nurses perform significantly more abortions in rural/underserved areas wherein physician access is limited. This bill would severely limit access to abortion for women in these areas. The State Board of Nursing recommends that with training, nurses be allowed to perform the procedure. This is another example of legislators thinking they know more about abortion than health experts. |
| Partial Birth Abortion Ban |
| Bill Number: |
HB 2400; SB 1138 [ view bill ] |
| Status: |
Passed the House of Representatives. Waiting committee assignment in Senate |
| Sponsor(s): |
Representatives: Barto, Antenori, Ash, Barns, Biggs, Boone, Brown, Burges, Court, Crandall, Crump, Driggs, Goodale, Gowan, Hendrix, Jones, Kavanagh, Lesko, Mason, McComish, McLain, Montenegro, Murphy, Nichols, Pratt, Quelland, Seel, Stevens, Tobin, Weiers, Yarbrough, Senators: Allen S., Gray L., Harper, Nelson, Pierce, Pearce, Waring |
Here we go again! This is the same partial-birth abortion ban Governor Napolitano vetoed twice last year. The bill mirrors the federal partial-birth abortion ban passed by Congress in 2003. This bill imposes harsh penalties on physicians who perform the procedure - even if they believe it is in the mother's best interest to do so. While this legislation does provide for an exception should the procedure be needed to immediately save the life of the mother, it does not provide exceptions for a litany of other scenarios wherein a partial-birth abortion spares the mother from a variety of serious medical complications. Under this bill, physicians who perform the procedure would appear before the State Medical Board for a hearing to determine whether the procedure was indeed “medically necessary” to save the mother's life. If the medical board does not agree with a physician's assertion that the procedure was necessary, they are subject to stiff fines and a prison sentence of up to 2 years. NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona is adamantly opposed to this legislation for a variety of reasons. 1. It is irrelevant: Federal laws already prohibit the procedure. 2. It is bad policy: This bill criminalizes the relationship between a woman and her physician. It is designed to scare doctors out of performing the procedure for fear of prosecution - many doctors mayopt not to perform the procedure EVEN IF IT IS NEEDED to ensure they do not face charges. 3. It is irresponsible: In this economic climate, NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona believes the time and money of the Arizona Legislature is better used fixing the budget crisis and stimulating jobs, rather than passing redundant legislation. 4. It does not address a real problem: Partial-birth abortions are extremely rare - and are generally only performed when medical conditions necessitate. Banning the procedure does not address the real problem of unintended pregnancy in our state. Let's focus our resources on reducing teenage pregnancy by improving access to birth-control and broadening the scope of sex-education policies! This bill has passed the House of Representatives and is currently waiting to be assigned to a committee in the Senate. |
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