PHOENIX — Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer saw her State of Michigan vote two years ago to protect abortion rights.
Speaking to reproductive rights supporters Tuesday at a downtown Phoenix coffee house, Whitmer provided a road map for Arizona to do the same thing in November.
"I'm here to give you a little hope," Whitmer said, with prominent Arizona Democrats by her side, including Attorney General Kris Mayes and party chair Yolanda Bejarano.
Whitmer’s advice was to make the political personal - including her own story.
“I don't really like talking about the fact that I was raped when I was in college,” Whitmer said, “but I'm going to do it till the day I die if it means that I want to protect these rights for my daughters and all Americans.”
Whitmer, a former county prosecutor, revealed the sexual assault just five years ago.
She acknowledged Arizona State Sen. Eva Burch’s speech two weeks ago on the Senate floor disclosing that Burch planned to have an abortion.
“I know that Senator Burch does not enjoy talking about some of the hardest things in her life,” Whitmer said, after Burch spoke at the event.
“But we have to tell our stories. And we have to tell our family and our neighbors and our friends and our fellow parishioners. We’ve got to have these conversations, because when we do, we win.”
Importance of Abortion Rights in Campaign
Whitmer's appearance in Phoenix underscores the importance of abortion rights in President Joe Biden's plan to hold on to Arizona, a swing state he narrowly won in 2020.
In recent days, the Biden campaign has adopted a more aggressive tone on abortion rights after the Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for that state's law banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, one of the most restrictive bans in the country.
Former President Trump, campaigning Tuesday in Michigan, wouldn't say whether he supported the Florida ban. He told an NBC reporter that he would be making a statement next week.
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Republicans have struggled to come up with a unified position on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court decision two years ago that struck down Roe vs Wade.
Protect Abortion in AZ Constitution
Arizona is one of up to 11 states that could have an abortion rights initiative on the ballot in November. Since the Roe decision, voters in seven states have supported abortion-rights measures.
The Arizona for Abortion Access Act would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state Constitution.
“Pregnant patients should have the freedom to make personal care decisions, especially related to abortions with their medical providers and families - and without politicians,” said Chris Love, spokeswoman for the campaign.
Love is also a senior advisor to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.
“The state is certainly allowed to regulate it in the same ways it regulates other medical care,” Love said. “What we're seeing now is an overregulation of abortion.”
Podiatrist Performing Abortion?
An organization called It Goes Too Far is running a “Decline to Sign” campaign designed to thwart signature gatherers. The organization plans to follow through with a fall campaign to defeat the initiative if it makes it onto the ballot.
“Legal analysis shows it is written very vaguely and it has broad exemptions that allow for unlimited, unregulated abortion,” said Cindy Dahlgren, spokeswoman for It Goes Too Far.
Dahlgren is also communications director for the Center for Arizona Policy. The CAP president, Cathi Herrod, has been the leading architect of anti-abortion legislation at the Capitol for more than a decade. Much of that legislation would be inoperative if the initiative were approved.
Dahlgren claims the initiative would allow podiatrists to perform abortions. She cites language in the proposed law referring to an abortion provider as a “treating health care professional.”
“Under Arizona statute, a health care professional does include a chiropractor, a podiatrist, and many other things,” she said. “So those health care professionals would be able to sign off on a late-term abortion, or possibly write the prescription for the abortion pill.
“It leads to a myriad of dangerous, risky situations for girls and women.”
Love, the initiative spokeswoman, responded:
“The playbook that they're pulling from is decades old. And it hasn't worked. And we've seen it not work in other states, like Michigan, and most recently, Ohio.”
Awaiting Ruling on 160-year-old Ban
Reproductive rights remain unsettled in Arizona since Roe was overturned.
Current state law allows abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest.
The Arizona Supreme Court is expected to rule in the next few months on the legality of a 160-year-old, near-total ban on abortion that would put doctors in jail.
Goal: 800,000 Signatures
The campaign to put the Arizona initiative on the ballot has gathered 508,000 voter signatures, according to Arizona for Abortion Access. The ballot threshold is about 384,000.
Love said the target was almost 800,000 signatures by the July 3 deadline for turning them in.
Every initiative seeks a signature cushion, because some voter signatures might not be valid.
“The easiest way to get something kicked off of the ballot or prevented from even reaching the ballot is (for opponents) to do a line-by-line signature challenge,” Love said.
“We are collecting as many signatures as possible in order to beat the odds there.”