April 16, 2024

In the seven days since Arizona’s MAGA Republicans voted to roll the clocks back to 1864, banning all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest, Republicans have taken every opportunity to lie about their record while simultaneously keeping the ban in place. This time, AZ GOP legislators were caught red-handed, planning to pull votes away from the ballot initiative which has gained tremendous grassroots support and to sow confusion among voters so they ultimately vote to enact another ban. 

“While Arizona Republicans are degrading voters by trying to trick and confuse them, Democrats are busy organizing and working to earn the vote of Arizonans,” said Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano. “The truth is, Republicans are not at all interested in defending our rights. They are solely focused on undermining every right we have fought for and earned. I am confident that Arizonans will fight to have their abortion rights respected by voting for Democrats up and down the ballot.”

“My Republican colleagues have shown voters exactly who they are– they will bow to extremists who want to take away reproductive rights and will stop at nothing to do so,” added ADLCC Co-Chair Priya Sundareshan. “Each of these legislators have no problem repeatedly lying and they are now crafting plans to sow misinformation and confusion in the public. They have failed to look out for the people of Arizona and it’s high-time we elect Democrats who will protect and restore abortion access.”
 

Let’s recap the facts:

• Rep. Matt Gress is one of the most pro-life members of the House, sponsoring House Bill 2427 that would have established fetal personhood in Arizona, opening the door for banning reproductive healthcare services such as IVF.
• When presented with legislation to repeal the ban, Rep. Matt Gress voted with the Republican majority so that the House enter recess and the discussion was shut down. 
• Rep. Matt Gress again voted with the Republican majority in adjourning session for the day without hearing discussion on the ban repeal. 
• When held accountable for his votes, Rep. Gress said, “I don’t remember voting aye ― my (GOP) colleagues would be surprised.”
• When held accountable for his votes, Rep. Gress called the attention to the video “unfair” and called the attempts to contradict his story a “partisan attack and a lie.”
• Rep. Gress finally admitted to lying for three whole days after the vote occurred and he could no longer deny video evidence.

• Rep. Shawnna Bolick joined every Senate Republican in urging voters to refuse to sign the abortion access initiative in Arizona, vowing to introduce anti-abortion legislation including banning abortion at the “moment of conception.”
• Senator T.J. Shope co-sponsored the bill to ban abortions at 15 weeks and it would have prosecuted doctors who performed abortions after 15 weeks.
• Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli said that women should “hold aspirin between their knees,” suggesting that women wouldn’t need access to contraception if they kept a pill bottle between their legs to stop them from having sex.

• Kari Lake has made her opposition to reproductive rights clear, including supporting the 1864 territorial ban on abortion, and said just a few months ago her dangerous positions on abortion “haven’t changed, actually.” Lake’s extreme views include support for banning abortions without exceptions for rape or incest for Arizonans, that “life begins at conception,” celebrating the fall of Roe, and “banning those types of abortion pills” in reference to medication abortions.
• Congressman David Schweikert co-sponsored  H.R.816 and H.R. 1011, which is a carbon copy of H.R. 431, Life at Conception Act that House Republicans introduced in 2023. Both pieces of legislation would ban all abortions and does not exclude IVF treatments in defining “person” as “each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization.” 
• Congressman Juan Ciscomani co-sponsored H.R. 7, legislation that prohibits using government subsidies, including tax credits, to purchase insurance plans that cover abortions. Women who are serving in the military, veterans or covered under Medicaid, as well as federal employees and those covered by the Indian Health Service, would not be able to use their credits to purchase insurance that covers abortions.
• Former Governor Doug Ducey pushed through a 15-week ban that was the basis of this court case going to the Arizona Supreme Court, and appointed all the far-right justices that made the ruling today.

Arizona Democrats are prepared to fight for abortion rights up and down the ticket. To learn more about key initiatives, how to vote or how to support Democrats this election cycle, please visit azdem.org.