Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15, legislative committees in the House and the Senate will hear three bills that cut family planning funding to low-income Arizonans, restrict women’s access to abortion care, and force doctors to promote crisis pregnancy centers. We need Planned Parenthood supporters and/or patients who are willing to testify, and also people willing to be in the gallery wearing their pink T-shirts if you are not comfortable testifying. Can you be there? These committee hearings will be going on all morning until at least noon, so even if you can come for an hour, your support is needed and much appreciated!!
Below are short breakdowns of the bills, and the times and locations of the committee hearings. Please email for further information or to RSVP. We will provide you with the materials to be able to testify.
1. House Bill 2838 bans abortions at 20 weeks or more, even if there is a lethal fetal anomaly. While supporters of this bill claim HB2838 will protect women and keep them safe, we know the real reason for this bill: to prevent women from accessing abortion care altogether and continue to take away our right to choose what is right for us and our own futures. This bill is being heard at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15, at the House of Representatives.
2. House Bill 2800 will have a devastating effect on women’s health care in Arizona. This bill effectively prohibits Planned Parenthood from providing family planning services including life-saving cancer screenings, birth control, and basic health care via AHCCCS and Title X. Research has shown that 78 percent of Arizonans support public funding for family planning services. For every $1 the state invests in family planning programs for low-income women Arizona taxpayers save $4 in Medicaid costs associated with unintended pregnancies. Arizona can’t afford to lose this funding that our friends and neighbors rely on to plan their futures! This bill is being heard at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15, at the House of Representatives.
3. Senate Bill 1494 does not focus on the safety of women, or keep their best interests at heart. Instead of focusing on the real concerns of Arizonans — jobs and the economy — our lawmakers are pushing a bill that would force doctors to provide ideological misinformation to patients. Senate Bill 1494 would force doctors to tell a woman that the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being and offer crisis pregnancy centers as a safe and credible alternative to abortion care. CPCs are unlicensed, unaccredited, and unregulated. In fact, numerous studies have shown that crisis pregnancy centers give women false, ideologically driven information. In the Waxman Report, a study commissioned by Congress, investigators found that 87 percent of crisis pregnancy centers contacted by investigators gave false or misleading information about abortion. This bill is being heard at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15, at the Senate.
I know we have asked a lot of you during this legislative session and you have taken action in a big way! You have sent more than 8,000 emails to lawmakers asking them to protect access to women’s health, and your time and efforts have paid off. HB2625, the Birth Control Discrimination Bill, has not moved forward and we have you to thank!
