Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed bills into law Thursday that banned abortion after 15 weeks, outlawed gender reassignment surgery for anyone under the age of 18 and limits on sports participation for transgender girls.
The bill outlawing abortions past 15 weeks also contains a penalty for physicians who violate the law, as they would face felony charges and potential suspension of their licenses.
Bills targeting abortion and transgender rights have been popular with the conservative base in states where Republicans dominate but could be politically risky in a battleground state where Democrats have made significant inroads.
The Arizona abortion legislation mirrors a Mississippi law now being considered by the Supreme Court. The bill explicitly says it does not overrule a state law in place for more than 100 years that would ban abortion outright if the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that enshrined the right to abortion in law.
‘In Arizona, we know there is immeasurable value in every life – including preborn life,’ said Ducey, a Republican. ‘I believe it is each state’s responsibility to protect them.’
Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey gives his state of the state address at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, in Phoenix
Arizona Republican state Rep. Nancy Barto (pictured) wrote two of the three laws signed by Ducey
Ducey is an abortion opponent who has signed every piece of anti-abortion legislation that has reached his desk since he took office in 2015. He said late last year that he hoped the Supreme Court overturns the Roe decision.
Florida lawmakers passed a similar 15-week abortion ban early this month that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign.
Other states are considering similar bans or passing versions of a ban enacted in Texas last year that bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy that the Supreme Court has refused to block.
The president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona called the 15-week ban just the latest in a series of ‘unrelenting attacks’ on a woman’s right to choose by Arizona Republicans.
But Sen. Nancy Barto, the Republican sponsor of the bill, has said she hopes the high court upholds Mississippi’s law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
‘The state has an obligation to protect life, and that is what this bill is about,’ Barto said during Senate debate last month.
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers supports the bill banning trans girls from sports. ‘I will not stop fighting for women. I will not stop standing for women. I will not stop speaking for women. Especially my daughters, who wanted to win,’ Bowers said in explaining his support for the bill
Protesters marching in Phoenix against an abortion bill that critics said would criminalize doctors. Ducey signed the bill in April 2021
Meanwhile, Arizona joins a dozen other states with limits on sports participation for trans girls and becomes the third state to try and limit health care options for transgender teens.
Until two years ago, no state had passed a law regulating gender-designated youth sports. But the issue has become front and center in Republican-led statehouses since Idaho lawmakers passed the nation’s first sports participation law in 2020. That law is now blocked in court, along with another in West Virginia.
Republicans have said blocking transgender athletes from girls sports teams would protect the integrity of women’s sports, claiming that trans athletes would have an advantage. Ducey echoed that sentiment in his signing statement.
‘The reason is simple, and common sense – this is a decision that will dramatically affect the rest of an individual’s life, including the ability of that individual to become a biological parent later in life,’ Ducey said.
He also inked a bill that requires all public schools and private schools that compete against them ‘to expressly designate their interscholastic athletics teams based on the biological sex of the participating students.’
‘Every young Arizona athlete should have the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities that give them a sense of belonging and allow them to grow and thrive,’ he said regarding the bill.
Similar bills have been sent to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk in recent weeks
The Arizona House of Representatives gather during a legislative session
Many point to the transgender collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas, who won an individual title at the NCAA Women’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championship last week.
But there are few trans athletes in Arizona schools. Since 2017, about 16 trans athletes have received waivers to play on teams that align with their gender identities out of about 170,000 high school athletes in the state, according to the Arizona Interscholastic Association.
Critics said the legislation dehumanizes trans youth to address an issue that hasn’t been a problem. Just 16 transgender high school athletes have received waivers to play on the team that aligns with their gender identity in the last five years. They said decisions about health care should be left to trans children, their parents and their health care providers.
‘We’re talking about legislating bullying against children who are already struggling just to get by,’ Democratic Rep. Kelli Butler said during the House debate on the sports bill last week.
The Republican governors of Utah and Indiana this week vetoed bills banning transgender girls from girls sports, calling the issue virtually nonexistent in their states. Utah’s Republican lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto Friday, and Indiana lawmakers were considering doing the same.
New laws typically take effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns in Arizona, which would make this law effective by late summer if it is not successfully challenged in court.
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