For Immediate Release
Monday, May 9, 2022
Contact: Morgan Dick, mdick@azdem.org
Democrats Unite to Protect Access to Abortion Services Under Leadership of Mayes + Gunnigle
Arizona Democratic Elected Officials and Candidates Co-Sign Statement Condemning Attacks on Abortion and Reproductive Healthcare
PHOENIX – This morning Arizona Democrats gathered, in unity to forcefully condemn any attacks on access to abortion and reproductive healthcare in response to the draft SCOTUS ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. In that spirit, Kris Mayes, candidate for Attorney General, and Julie Gunnigle, candidate for Maricopa County Attorney, drafted a joint statement further demonstrating that when elected, Democrats will fight tooth and nail for the constitutional rights of all Arizonans.
The statement, which was co-signed by fellow Democratic candidates and elected officials this morning reads as follows:
“We are outraged but not surprised that five extremist U.S. Supreme Court justices are poised to overturn Roe v. Wade in a draft decision made available to the American public. The political decision to overturn decades of legal precedent is a direct affront to the clear majority of Americans who support the right to abortion. This decision will disproportionately harm rural families, low-income families, indigenous communities, young people, and people of color — who will all lose access to critical healthcare services the moment Roe is overturned. That includes a recent 15-week abortion ban recently signed by the Governor and preexisting anti-abortion laws that were written more than 120 years ago.
While we are devastated by the damage this will do to individuals across the U.S. and in Arizona, we are more determined than ever to stand up and fight back. We know that the majority of Arizonans support the right to abortion and want to protect the confidential relationship between a patient and their healthcare provider. Families want to keep the government out of their private healthcare decisions. Now all eyes turn to the states, to Arizona, and their elected leaders to protect safe, legal, and affordable access to abortion and contraception.
As Democrats, we are unified in our commitment to protect families, medical professionals, and our entire Arizona community. Together, we fully condemn this draft ruling and commit to Arizona voters that, when elected, we will use the power of the state and county government to protect Arizonans’ right to access safe, legal, and affordable abortion services and reproductive healthcare. We will never prosecute patients or qualified medical professionals for seeking or providing abortion care. Prosecutors and prisons have no place in any American’s private decisions about their own bodies.
We want to be very clear: until this ruling is finalized, abortion services remain legal and available in Arizona, but the writing is on the wall. This November, Arizonans will make our voices heard by electing pro-choice candidates up and down the ballot who have a demonstrated commitment to defending a person’s right to an abortion. We cannot, and will not be silenced in this fight.”
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