Arizonans turn out record support for abortion rights

The Grand Canyon State remains the frontline in the fight for freedom.

The news out of Arizona this week has been historic. But you wouldn’t know it from the headlines on almost any news site (except erlywrm.com, of course). 

In case you missed it, organizers from Arizona for Abortion Access turned in a record number of signatures, 823,685, to put reproductive rights on the ballot this November. 

“The number is more than double the 383,932 signatures needed to place the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot,” Paola Rodriquez at azpm reported. That’s the most signatures that have ever been submitted to support a ballot measure in the Grand Canyon state

“Right now, abortion access is limited up until 15 weeks gestation, or in cases of medical emergencies,” Rodriquez noted. “However, the 15-week law does not have exceptions for rape or incest, meaning abortions in those cases must be before the gestational age of the fetus exceeds 15 weeks."

You’ll also remember that the state’s Republican-dominated Supreme Court, which the previous governor had packed, brought back an 1864 complete and nearly total abortion ban. The Democratic governor signed a repeal of the law with minimal Republican support. But we know the GOP’s plan has been and always will be to bring that ban back. How do we know it? They’ve said exactly that.

As State Senator Eva Burch told us in May:

We saw Rep. Parker when they were voting through the repeal of the ban last Wednesday, stood up and said, "When we put in the 15-week abortion ban, we all agreed, we all discussed it. All the Republicans were on the same exact page that what we wanted was the 1864 ban. And that this 15-week ban was just what we could do in the meantime, but that was always the end goal. I don't understand why anybody's turning around and saying anything different right now.” 

We know what the eventual end game is. 

This massive success for Arizona’s organizers and voters reminds us how crucial this election is to the state's future.

“In sum, just about everything is up for grabs in the Arizona desert,” Sahsa Abramsky wrote in The Nation this week.

Arizona is one state where Trump’s ruse about pretending to leave abortion up to the states as his allies plan to ban the procedure as much as they possibly can nationally with existing laws will never work. And that means all of the state’s massively consequential elections should and must be about freedoms.

Abramsky sums up the vast ballot stakes succinctly as possible:

Arizona is shaping up to be one of the most crucial swing states in November. If the Democrats win its 11 electoral votes, Biden’s path to reelection suddenly gets much easier; it will give him a cushion for the potential loss of, say, Michigan. If Biden loses Arizona, Trump stands on the threshold of a return to power. If progressive Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego wins the US Senate seat that is being vacated by Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrats have a narrow path to retaining control of the upper chamber in an election that many pundits predict will leave them with a minority. If the GOP candidate—most likely former gubernatorial hopeful and election denier Kari Lake—wins the seat, that path all but disappears. Meanwhile, there are two toss-up congressional seats that could allow the Democrats to regain control of the House. As for the state Legislature, winning two seats in both the state House of Representatives and the Senate would give Democrats control for the first time since the 1960s—placing Arizona on a par with its neighbors Nevada and New Mexico, which have gone from being red to generally blue in recent years. 

That makes some other big news from this week even sweeter: We’ve now surpassed 75% of our 2024 goal to help flip both of Arizona’s statehouses.

And it all started with a little boost from the great Kevin M. Kruse: 

When we started earlyworm, asking people for their money, even to back causes I know are worth everything we can give them, was painful. Still is a little! There’s just an engrained something in me that screams silently, “Asking people for money is gauche and better left to people with completely pure souls!” 

But the support from everyone here and the vast ocean of people who want to do the right thing for democracy has been one of the most reassuring experiences in my life despite waves hands at everything else*.

I had a goofy realization when talking to Charles Gaba, whose Blue24.org is a constant inspiration and model for helping people fund the candidates and causes they believe in: 

Not everyone can give money, but some people can only give money. 

And it’s good to help them to do that! Of course, we also – because we believe democracy needs to be a daily thing everyone should do when they can – promote other ways to help that only cost time and/or internet access.

Focusing on the right things at the right time is the only meditative practice that can preserve our equanimity and dignity through this election. Our focus on Arizona is literally paying off and proving that we can make a difference. The only reward will be better lives for people we’ll never know. What can be better than that?