For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Contact: Aida Ross, aross@azdem.org
Republicans in Arizona Vote Against Protecting Arizonans’ Access Contraceptives
Reps. Biggs, Gosar, Lesko, and Schweikert voted against a bill to ensure Arizonans are able to access contraceptives after a conservative Supreme Court justice indicated that right could be at risk
Today, Arizona House Republicans Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, and David Schweikert voted against a bill that would protect Arizonans’ ability to access contraceptives and contraception, and protect health care providers’ ability to provide them.
After the vote, Arizona Democratic Party Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:
“A recent opinion by a conservative Supreme Court justice made it clear: Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, Arizonans’ right to access contraceptives could be next. With their vote today, Arizona Republicans Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, and David Schweikert showed that they would allow states to threaten access to contraceptives and family planning options for Arizonans. After the vast majority of House Republicans already voted in the past two weeks against legislation to protect the right to an abortion, protect women traveling to another state to seek reproductive health care, and protect same-sex and interracial marriage, it’s clear that Democrats are the only party interested in securing Arizonans’ freedoms.”
Today’s vote follows the Supreme Court’s decision to ignore 50 years of precedent to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to outlaw abortion, and potentially target other rights, such as the right to same sex-marriage and the right to contraception. The vote also comes days after 157 House Republicans voted against legislation to protect marriage equality, and just a week after nearly all House Republicans voted against bills to protect Americans’ right to make their own health care decisions and to prevent states from punishing women who cross state lines to seek access to health care.
###