Individual freedoms — including that foremost liberty to decide if and when to become a parent — must never be left up to states, maintains the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Proving that point is the horrific decision today by the Arizona Supreme Court ruling that the state’s 1864 abortion ban will go into effect in 14 days. Arizona wasn’t a state 150 years ago when this territorial law was passed — and women couldn’t vote. All abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, will become illegal in the state. Physicians can be sentenced for as much as two to five years in prison for performing an abortion. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.
It is indeed, as Gov. Katie Hobbs put it, a “dark day for Arizona,” that “serves only to create more chaos for women and doctors in our state.” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who called the decision “unconscionable,” announced she will not prosecute any doctors or women under the ban.
Only a week ago, a mirror decision was announced in Florida by its state Supreme Court. But just as in Florida, where a ballot initiative will be voted on in November to protect abortion rights, Arizonans are also ready with their own ballot measure. Arizona for Abortion Access has collected over 500,000 signatures, almost 120,000 above the number needed. The amendment would add a protection for abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution until fetal viability.
“We call on our FFRF members in Arizona, Florida and several other states still gathering signatures, such as Missouri, to help get these initiatives on the ballot in their respective states and to get out the vote,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “A majority of Americans support legal abortion. We know our members are deeply concerned about a minority of zealots imposing their religious viewpoints on the rest of us and endangering women’s rights and health.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nontheist organization dedicated to the separation of state and church, with 40,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including more than 1,000 members and a chapter in Arizona.
