Why Arizona's pre-Roe abortion ban is worth defending

Dobbs forced a much-needed discussion about Roe.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade gave rise to the often-ignored details of just how far Roe went in allowing doctors to destroy human life inside the womb.

Polling shows most Americans didn’t realize Roe allowed states to sanction abortion up to the point for birth. When abortion supporters learn that, they reject Roe.

Dobbs did not set us back 150 years

But along with the productive discussion of the realities of abortion, came an onslaught of panicked misinformation designed to rush the codification of Roe before the truth could settle nerves.

One Arizona Republic columnist claimed Arizona’s abortion prohibition would send us back to the days of hoop dresses in 1864, before telephones and indoor plumbing. But that law was in effect in 1973, long after hoop earrings replaced hoop dresses and the only thing that blocked enforcement then was the faulty ruling in Roe.

Also, news reports and local columnists warned the Dobbs decision would splinter interracial marriage, among other things. But that case was decided primarily on the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, not the ​substantive Due Process Clause used in Roe and Casey, and which the court found did not confer a “right to abortion.”

Activists wrongly conflate miscarriage, abortion

To that end, abortion activists repeat frightening claims of the coming apocalypse, when police will stalk women who suffer spontaneous abortions and force others to endure an ectopic pregnancy until both mother and unborn child die.

This is ludicrous. A spontaneous miscarriage is just that, spontaneous. An abortion is an intentional act.

An ectopic pregnancy is not viable. An unborn baby will not survive growing in the mother’s fallopian tube, and if it goes untreated, the mother could die too. A risk to the mother’s life is already an exception to Arizona’s abortion law.

In many of these cases, doctors must surgically remove the unborn baby to save the life of the mother.

Another view: Why women still need abortion access

Most spontaneous miscarriages happen naturally and don’t need intervention. In the case of an incomplete spontaneous miscarriage, doctors perform a dilation and curettage (D&C) to remove the remaining tissue and protect the mother from potential deadly infection. This doesn’t cause the death of the unborn baby; it removes the remains of a baby already deceased from natural causes.

For pro-abortion activists to conflate these scenarios with abortion is disingenuous and cruel.

Arizona's pre-Roe prohibition is in effect

Incidentally, these scenarios are key reasons the abortion pill has a complication rate four times that of surgical abortions. Both surgical and chemical abortions are now illegal in Arizona in most cases.

Pending court intervention, performing or taking action to cause an abortion is illegal in Arizona except to save the life of the mother. The abortion provider would face criminal charges, not the woman.

The Supreme Court was clear that abortion law belongs to the people as represented by their elected officials. Yet, President Biden on Friday issued an executive order attempting to supersede those rights and allow abortion on demand up until the moment of birth. This is extreme and out of touch with most Americans, including Arizonans.

Abortion access: Most Arizona providers have paused services

Abortion has been illegal in Arizona a lot longer than it was legal, and legal only because the Supreme Court wrongly deemed it a “right” in 1973.

Even then, Arizona’s abortion prohibition was never repealed. Moreover, the Arizona Legislature expressly has declined to repeal the law when given the opportunity. And prior to Roe, a state court had upheld the abortion prohibition as constitutional.

That law remains on the books with an injunction only on the attorney general and the Pima County attorney. There is no such injunction on the remaining 14 county attorneys.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich confirmed the pre-Roe law prohibiting abortion in most cases is back in effect, and he intends to ask the court to vacate the injunction on his office and the Pima County attorney.

Women must know that abortion isn't the answer

Now, we defend Arizona’s abortion prohibition against anticipated legal action and we double down on caring for women facing unplanned pregnancies.

Pregnancy resource centers already providing support and material needs to women have enthusiastically committed to extend their care as far as the need demands. It is up to the rest of us to support those agencies. If the fall of Roe has you worried about women, then come alongside them; protect them from the lie that abortion is the answer.

Telling women the solution to unplanned pregnancy is abortion ignores the fact that abortion takes a separate human life and deeply hurts the mother. Arizona lawmakers heard from women who suffered years of emotional trauma due to abortion.

Statistics show women who have abortions have an 81% increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. And at least two studies, one of maternal suicides in Finland and a second of low-income women in California by Elliott Institute, show that women who had abortions are at least 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than those who didn’t abort.

They also risk physical damage, including a perforated uterus, bladder or bowels, hemorrhaging, future infertility and infections, some deadly.

These are the often-ignored, ugly realities of abortion that got lost in Roe and revealed in Dobbs. It’s time to affirm that life is a human right.

Cathi Herrod is president of Center for Arizona Policy, a nonprofit organization that defends the values of life, marriage and family, and religious freedom. On Twitter: @Cathiherrod.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's pre-Roe abortion ban is worth defending. Here's why