The Abortion Fund of Arizona Responds to the Arizona Supreme Court Ruling Reinstating a Total Abortion Ban
Media Contact: communications@prochoicearizona.org
Phoenix — Today, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a decision in PPAZ v. Mayes/Eric Hazelrigg, M.D., reinstating Arizona’s total abortion ban and harming anyone who can become pregnant in the state. This decision follows legal battles incited by anti-abortion extremists who sought to overturn the Arizona Court of Appeals decision, which determined that the pre-territorial ban did not supersede the contemporary 15-week abortion ban on December 30, 2022.
“We are devastated and outraged by today’s decision,” said Eloisa Lopez, Executive Director of Pro-Choice Arizona and the Abortion Fund of Arizona (AFAZ). “Our team is all too familiar with the damaging effect of Arizona’s total ban and intimately know the challenges abortion patients will face.We are ready to do everything in our power to take care of our community’s needs in spite of it.
“We have always helped people who need abortions get out of state when necessary – including after the Dobbs decision in 2022, when this harmful ban was last in effect,” Lopez continued. “The Abortion Fund of Arizona is more prepared than ever to ensure our helpline callers have the resources to cross state lines to access essential abortion care.”
Arizona joins fifteen other states that ban abortion at all points in pregnancy with little or no exceptions. The Abortion Fund of Arizona is firmly committed to providing financial assistance and practical support to people who need abortions in the state, no matter their reason or point in pregnancy. The Fund has helped pregnant people navigate multiple restrictions since it was founded in 2017, including a fetal viability ban until June 24, 2022; a total ban between late June and October 2022; and the ban on abortion after 15 weeks and six days that was in place until today’s decision. The Fund supported 55 individuals who needed to travel out of state the last time the total ban posed a threat to people who needed abortions in Arizona.
A largely volunteer-operated program that is funded by community donations, the Abortion Fund of Arizona has pledged over $521 thousand to 1,540 of patients since Roe v. Wade was overruled. AFAZ is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds and collaborates with other abortion funds across the country, establishes partnerships with local and out-of-state clinics, and works with other community aid organizations to increase access to abortion and reproductive healthcare.
Community members who would like to support the Abortion Fund of Arizona may donate here.
