Post-1864 repeal, AZ abortion rights advocates still concerned

A small crowd turned out Saturday for a rally for Arizona abortion rights on the U of A campus, an attempt by organizers to continue the conversation after the state Legislature last week repealed the 1864 law that banned abortion outright.

“We just wanted to put on a rally or a community event because recently there’s been a lot of movement about Arizona reproductive laws,” said Party for Socialism and Liberation spokesperson Jocelyn Garcia.

Garcia and about 10 other PSL members had a small tent set up halfway down the UA campus mall at 11 a.m. There they were handing out flyers for abortion access and newsletters for future events. Other local groups including Tucson Abortion Support Collective and Rally for Roe also organized themselves around tables topped with bunches of informational invoices, their corners blowing in late spring breeze.

“Last week Governor Katie Hobbs repealed the 1864 total abortion ban, but that just means that the former 15-week abortion ban is back in place,” said Garcia.

Garcia emphasized the importance of a continued discourse surrounding abortion rights, even after the repeal of the near total ban.

“We wanted to make sure that folks had resources; talk to your neighbors, talk to your peers and classmates about how this is something we should still be putting pressure on our state and local governments about,” said Garcia.

The event hosted a couple of speakers who talked and chanted to the limited turnout about the importance of reproductive access in Arizona and America.

Oscar Rivas and Coleman Hammer-Tomizuka, stationed along the sideline, said they felt it was important to attend Saturday’s rally.

“We are just here to advocate for free, safe, legal abortions for every woman, not only here at the U of A but also across the country and the world,” Rivas said.

“We are here advocating and we are protesting and, as some of our speakers had said, more needs to be done to protect abortion than what has been done by the officially sanctioned protectors of abortion in the Democratic party,” said Hammer-Tomizuka.

Some Democratic lawmakers representing District 20, which covers Pima County, were at the rally, collecting signatures from registered voters for Arizona’s Access for Abortion act proposal that could end up on the ballot in November..

The act, if passed by voters, would make abortion access a constitutional amendment in Arizona. This would solidify abortion as a right guaranteed to Arizonans and greatly reduce the amount of restrictions placed on reproductive rights.

“They’re jerking it around right now,” LD 20 volunteer, Karen Karl said. “They’re for an 1864 ban for a little while and now they’re back to the 15 week and we just want to take it out of the hands of the politicians, put it in the hands of the voters, put it in the Constitution and be done with this whole issue.”

Karl said Pima County was generating “a lot” of signatures for the petition and that she thinks it’s a good indication of how Tucson’s citizens are feeling about this issue.

“There’s been a lot of pressure on the Republicans right. They have realized that this is not just not something that the people want, these ridiculous abortion bans,” said Karl.

Karl attributed political pressure to last week’s repeal and emphasized the importance of the battle-ground districts in Tucson right now and the difference they could make.

“The state Legislature is vulnerable right now. There’s (conservative districts) that could flip and all we need is two to flip and then it’s a Democratic majority (in the Senate) and they know how close that is,” said Karl.

Karl said that the repeal was “a good thing” but that Arizona is still in a vulnerable place in terms of losing access to reproductive rights.

“I’m glad the repeal happened. Glad that women have just a tiny bit of breathing room because it makes such a difference,” she said.

Saturday’s petered out around 1 p.m. with participants helping take down tents in the early summer heat.