Sinema: Abortion ban in Arizona removes ‘basic rights’ of women

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) criticized a near-total abortion ban that a judge upheld in her state, saying Saturday that it removes the “basic rights” of women. 

Sinema tweeted that Arizona women should not be forced to travel outside the state to receive health care services and doctors should not face criminal penalties for taking care of women in need. 

“A woman’s health care decisions should be between her, her family, and her doctor,” she said. “Today’s decision removes basic rights Arizona women have relied upon for over a century and endangers their health, safety, and well-being.” 

Sinema’s comments come after an Arizona judge ruled Friday that the state can enforce a ban that has been blocked for nearly 50 years, since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade protected abortion access nationwide. The ban was enacted in the 1800s before Arizona became a state, but its enforcement was halted after the Roe ruling in 1973. 

State Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) had urged the judge to allow the state to enforce the ban. 

The judge ruled that the injunction that prevented enforcement of the law was only issued because of Roe v. Wade, so it must be lifted completely. 

The ban will prevent the procedure in all cases except for when the pregnant person’s life is at risk. 

More than a dozen states either had trigger bans go into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June or passed legislation banning it since then. Many bans do not include exceptions for rape or incest.

Sinema said she will continue to work to advance “commonsense proposals” to ensure women in Arizona and across the country can access the health care they need and make their own decisions about their futures. 

Arizona’s other senator, Mark Kelly (D), also criticized the ruling, saying that overturning Roe set women’s rights back “decades.”

“I won’t stop until we restore abortion rights so my granddaughter can have the same freedoms my grandmother did,” he said.