Arizona leaders react after Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

PHOENIX - Arizona leaders are responding after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to have the final say on abortions.

The controversial ruling on a case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization sets in motion a series of events that will likely lead to abortion being banned or severely restricted in roughly half of the 50 states. 

Arizona Senate Republicans says the ruling makes most abortions illegal in the state. They are pointing to a pre-Roe law (ARS 13-3603) that bans abortions unless it is necessary to save a mother's life.

ARS 13-3603 states:

A person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years.

MORE: This is where abortion will likely be illegal if Roe v. Wade is overturned

Senators, representatives and other leaders released the following statements:

Sen. Mark Kelly

Today’s decision is a giant step backward for our country. Women deserve the right to make their own decisions about abortion. It is just wrong that the next generation of women will have fewer freedoms than my grandmother did.

In Arizona, there are already restrictive bans on the books that will take rights away from Arizona women, without exceptions even in the case of rape or incest. I know that this decision and these laws are leaving many Arizonans frustrated and scared. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. I am resolved to defend and protect the right of Arizona women to make their own health care decisions.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema

A woman’s health care choices should be between her, her family, and her doctor. Today's decision overturning Roe v. Wade endangers the health and wellbeing of women in Arizona and across America.

Throughout my time in Congress, I’ve always supported women’s access to health care, and I’ll continue working with anyone to protect women’s ability to make decisions about their futures.

Gov. Doug Ducey

Roe v Wade was a poorly-reasoned ruling that had no Constitutional basis. The Supreme Court has made the right decision by finally overturning it and giving governing power back to the people and the states. 

I am proud that Arizona has been ranked the most pro-life state in the country. Here, we will continue to cherish life and protect it in every way possible.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich

Attorneys General have a solemn responsibility to defend the most vulnerable among us, and that’s exactly what we did today. I look forward to seeing this issue returned to elected representatives where it belongs. As Americans, we believe in the dignity & value of every person.

We have also been vigorously defending Arizona's law (Brnovich v. Isaacson) that protects against discriminatory abortions on the basis of race, sex, or genetic issues, and we anticipate that defense will prevail.

Secretary of State Katie Hobbs

Knowing that this day was coming doesn’t dull the pain. I am heartbroken and I am angry. Republican extremists have plotted for decades to install partisan judges at every level of the judicial system with the goal of ending women’s fundamental freedom to choose our own health care. But we still have a choice 一 at the ballot this November. 

Governors are now the final line of defense to protect access to safe and legal abortion, and it’s never been more urgent to vote for pro-choice champions at the state level. As governor, I will use my veto pen to block any legislation that compromises the right to choose, and I will do everything in my power to secure women’s rights for the next generation.

Rep. Andy Biggs

Rep. Ruben Gallego

Today, I am enraged – as many of you are. For nearly 50 years, the United States has protected the right to a safe, legal abortion. But today the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court, hellbent on rolling back women’s rights, chose to take our country backwards and endanger the lives of American women by ripping away the right to choose.

The ruling will have especially harsh consequences in Arizona. Our state’s long and storied history of attacking reproductive freedom mean that Arizonans will feel the impact of this right being stripped away almost immediately. With today's opinion, women and families across the state can no longer count on getting the healthcare they need.

 The Court's conservative majority does not reflect the majority opinion of Americans on this issue and is a reminder that who we choose to lead our country directly affects our everyday lives. That is why we must be resilient and press forward to pass legislation codifying the right to an abortion. If that means eliminating the filibuster, then it must be eliminated. 

Make no mistake, this decision strikes against the heart of our American values and will cost American lives. But I for one will not allow my anger to blind us to what we must do to protect women across our country, and I remain committed to fighting for solutions that will make today's unsound ruling null and void.

Rep. Raul Grijalva

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick

The Supreme Court is no longer a legitimate body; it has become another partisan branch — putting political party platforms before the American people and legal precedent. This week's SCOTUS rulings highlight this fact: the courts' conservatives have dismantled the separation of church and state.

Never in my lifetime have I seen constitutional rights stripped away from the majority of Americans. For Arizonans, this ruling will be life-threatening. I'm from a generation that knows the reality of womanhood and reproduction before Roe; I almost lost a dear college friend to a dangerous backroom abortion. 

This is personal for so many people, men, and women. It makes me sick to think that we are going backwards. It makes me angry to know that my daughters now have fewer constitutional rights than the rights we fought for, and before today, had. 

It’s dumbfounding that the opinion made by six people on the court, only one of whom is a woman, will impact more than half of our entire nation's population. Don't be naive, the overturning of Roe is far more than an attack on abortion healthcare, this will ignite a slope of legal assaults on women and their privacy.

To the majority of Americans against this decision, I stand with you in outrage, grief, and shock. But we don't have the freedom to sit on the sidelines in disbelief. Our rights have been stolen and they will continue to be attacked if we don’t mobilize. 

We must have a voice in every room, every election, and every conversation where decisions are made. And we must reevaluate the future of the Supreme Court - our nation’s future depends on it.

Rep. Debbie Lesko

"The U.S. Supreme Court made the right decision on Dobbs. The abortion debate will finally be returned to the people through their elected representatives. The Court made it clear that there is no Constitutional right to an abortion and agreed with Constitutional scholars on both sides of the debate that Roe v. Wade was originally decided on shaky legal grounds. Now, more than ever, it is time for us to unite to support vulnerable women and their unborn babies, and it is time for Republicans and Democrats alike to reject violence and intimidation."

Rep. Tom O'Halleran

Today, I am furious, disappointed, crestfallen. This decision goes back on half a century of legal precedent; it is a mammoth setback for women, families, and our entire nation. My 16-year-old granddaughter will now have fewer rights than my wife had in the 1970s. 

I firmly support a woman’s right to choose and believe that health care decisions should lie solely between a woman and her doctor. Now, that right and that privacy can be taken away. 

From the time the draft decision was leaked, the Senate had over a month to take up and pass our Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified the federal protections guaranteed under Roe v. Wade into law. They failed to do so.

Rep. Greg Stanton

"The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe will have immediate and devastating effects for Arizona women’s health and safety—and their fundamental right to determine their futures.  This is a dark, dark day for our country, and the Supreme Court. For 50 years the Court had recognized the constitutional right to an abortion—and in the pursuit of an extreme, ideological agenda it has rolled out the red carpet for states to criminalize women and their doctors."

Arizona State Senate GOP

"This is a monumental day for our nation and for babies. Here we are, finally celebrating the end of an era where the life of a child in the womb could be taken up to the moment of birth, for any reason deemed ‘right’ by the mother. Finally, justice is served for all those babies that never had the chance to live. The states will now decide how to protect mothers and their unborn children. We are praising the good Lord today and thanking SCOTUS for their courage in the face of incredible and physical and political threat. Arizona State Senate Republicans will continue to fight for the sanctity of life, the rule of law, morals, family values and against radical Democrats who aim to change society in some very dark and disturbing ways."

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego

State Sen. Nancy Barto