Arizona Republicans are considering several options to counter a proposed constitutional amendment to expand abortion access that may appear on the state ballot in November. Their strategy document, which was obtained by NBC News, reveals how lawmakers cook up anti-abortion measures — and how they pitch them to voters.
Arizona Republicans have been under pressure after the state Supreme Court revived a near-total Civil War-era abortion ban last week. The ruling is deeply unpopular among voters nationally and has even received pushback from Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. It also has further galvanized support for the initiative to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution.
The Arizona GOP’s strategy document outlines ideas for the party, which has control over the state Legislature, to weaken support for the abortion amendment.
Such measures would be couched under titles like “Protecting Pregnant Women and Safe Abortions Act” or “Arizona Abortion and Reproductive Care Act,” the PowerPoint document says.
“Phase 1” of the plan suggests offering “reasonable protections to voters” — but not a right to an abortion — that courts could consider “when interpreting the constitutional right to abortion” in the ballot initiative. Such measures would be couched under titles like “Protecting Pregnant Women and Safe Abortions Act” or “Arizona Abortion and Reproductive Care Act,” the PowerPoint document says.
In the second phase, Arizona Republicans would offer voters — via referrals by the GOP-controlled Legislature — two constitutional amendments that “conflict with” the abortion rights initiative: a “15-week Reproductive Care and Abortion Act” and a “Heartbeat Protection Act.”
Interestingly, the document concedes that the former would be “a 14-week law disguised as a 15-week law because it would only allow abortion until the beginning of the 15th week.” And listed as one of the cons for Phase 2 is that a constitutional amendment “transfers regulation of abortion from the Legislature to voters.” In a statement, Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma said: The document presents ideas drafted for internal discussion and consideration within the caucus. I’ve publicly stated that we are looking at options to address this subject, and this is simply part of that.
If nothing else, the document sheds light on how Arizona Republicans push for extreme abortion measures while misleading voters about their true intentions.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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