“It has been said that a society should be judged by the way they care for the vulnerable among us. In Arizona, we will continue to protect life to the greatest extent possible.” Doug Ducey said this in 2022 when he, as governor, signed a law that reaffirmed Arizona’s pro-life law after the U.S. Supreme Court returned the ability to pass laws that protect life back to the people and their elected representatives in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization .
The Arizona Supreme Court exercised commendable judicial modesty by upholding our state’s pro-life law. The people of Arizona, through their elected representatives, have long protected unborn human life, and the Senate should continue that protection and reject the many half-truths being tossed around.
Starting in 1864, a territorial law was passed to protect unborn life from conception, except to save the mother’s life. Another law providing the same protection replaced it in 1901. Then, in 1977, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided
Roe v. Wade , the Arizona Legislature
reenacted the 1901 law as A.R.S. 13-3603. This law, not the 1864 territorial law, is the one that Planned Parenthood challenged in the recent state supreme court case.
Like those before it, the 1977 law fully protected unborn life except to save the mother. Then in 2022, Gov. Ducey signed the 15-week law, which
reaffirmed the 1977 law by expressly not repealing it: “This act does not repeal, by implication or otherwise, section 13-3603, Arizona Revised Statutes, or any other applicable state law regulating or restricting abortion.” Far from
legislating “from the bench,” or
rejecting “the will of the people,” the Arizona Supreme Court simply
upheld the law as written like responsible courts do.
Contrary to many reports, the law is not some dusty relic; it is a key protection intentionally and repeatedly preserved by the people’s elected representatives.
And for good reason. Life begins at conception. At just six weeks, an unborn baby’s heart begins to beat. At eight weeks, she has fingers and toes. And at 10 weeks, her unique fingerprints begin to form. Fifty years of scientific progress since
Roe shows that states have a compelling interest in protecting unborn human life at every stage of development. Life is a human right.
Abortion is also unsafecertainly for the unborn child, but also for the mother. Women who undergo abortion often
suffer complications and face severe regret. These women deserve real support and real health care. But the abortion industry sells women a false choice between protecting their future and protecting their child. That lie traffics fear. It’s also coercive. Many mothers
pressured to abort say they would
prefer to choose life if they had support.
And that support is available.
Dozens of pregnancy centers across Arizona, including Choices Pregnancy Center, the one my client, Dr. Eric Hazelrigg helps lead, stand ready to help women by providing free resources like diapers, car seats, cribs, and baby clothes. These centers also sponsor parenting classes for fathers so women can have partner support and their children can enjoy loving care from both parents. Women are again free to choose life.
Gov. Ducey was right. States must protect the most vulnerable among them, and the Senate can do that again this week by retaining the pro-life law that the Arizona Supreme Court just upheld. While
Mr. Ducey and other
politicians have since run from protecting life “to the greatest extent possible,” the people of Arizona should not. Innocent human life is
always worth protecting.
Sometimes new isn’t better. That’s true here. While critics continue to smear Arizona’s pro-life law as a musty artifact, let’s remember they can only publish their half-truths and misimpressions thanks to another old law ratified in 1791the First Amendment.
Jake Warner, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom ( @ADFLegal ), argued before the Arizona Supreme Court in favor of Arizona’s pro-life law, A.R.S. 13-3603. Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.
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