Gov. Jan Brewer signed a series of restrictions on abortion last week, including a state ban on late-term, or “partial-birth,” abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life is in immediate danger.
The new legislation also mandates a 24-hour waiting period between a woman’s first appointment and the procedure, as well as required counseling informing the woman of the risks of having the abortion.
In addition, the law allows health-care workers who say they are against providing abortion medication or emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds to abstain from the facilitation of such treatment.
Pro-life advocates in the Valley said the new law was long overdue.
Catherine Smith, a recent graduate who founded the ASU chapter of the conservative Network of Enlightened Women in 2004, said the measures could prevent many abortions by warning women of the risks associated with the procedure.
“What women don’t understand is that when they have abortions, they go through tremendous psychological stress,” Smith said. “Right now, they aren’t being told enough about the medical and emotional toll an abortion takes on a woman.”
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the waiting period was designed to allow women to receive counseling on the risks associated with the procedure and possible alternatives before making a decision.
“The 24-hour waiting period simply prevents women from making impetuous decisions or from being pressured by husbands or boyfriends to get an abortion done quickly before she thinks it out properly,” Kavanagh said. “You can’t undo an abortion.”
Pro-choice advocates, however, say the new law simply creates more obstacles for women seeking to deal with unwanted pregnancies, including making it harder to obtain birth control.
Planned Parenthood Arizona President Bryan Howard said the statute also makes it more difficult for economically disadvantaged women, especially those in rural areas, who often have to travel to the Phoenix and Tucson areas, to have abortions done. Those women will end up losing more money on travel expenses, lost wages and childcare, he said.
“In addition to denying women access to emergency contraception, which is a form of birth control, it drastically reduces access to care in rural and underserved areas,” Howard said in a written statement released last week.
“This law does nothing but creates barriers, increases cost and denies access to services and providers to women who seek abortion care,” he said.
The state ban on late-term abortions is already in line with a federal ban upheld in 2007, leading legislative Democrats to say the law was unnecessary and a waste of state time and money.
“We already have a federal law and a Supreme Court decision dictating the penalties for a late-term abortion,” said Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix. “This law is duplicative and unnecessary.”
Sinema said pro-life advocates have blown the debate surrounding late-term abortions out of proportion. Most abortions, she said, are performed in the first two trimesters of pregnancy.
“Those mothers who chose to terminate their pregnancies in their last trimester, when it is dangerous for themselves … those situations, almost entirely, are situations where the pregnancy is terminated in order to protect the life and the health of the woman,” she said.
According to a 2004 CDC report, 87 percent of abortions in the U.S. since 1969 have been performed in the first trimester.
The governor’s approval of the bills passed by the Legislature marks the first time the state has been able to pass legislation restricting abortions since the beginning of former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s term in 2002.
Napolitano, a Democrat, vetoed all bills restricting abortion during her time in office. Brewer could not be reached for comment.
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derek.quizon@asu.edu
