Arizona GOP wants to undercut proposed abortion ballot measure with Legislature referrals
A document circulated Monday by a Republican legislative staffer explains how lawmakers could weaken support for an anticipated pro-abortion ballot measure by crafting competing proposals.
The potential plan would attempt to manipulate voters in several ways, such as trying to get better placement on the ballot and offering a 14-week ban that's "disguised as a 15-week law."
Its distribution follows last week's explosive ruling by the state Supreme Court that upheld a strict abortion ban from Arizona's territorial days. But the 24-slide presentation intended for Republican legislators doesn't address a possible repeal of the ban that may come up for a vote during floor sessions planned for April 17.
It suggests referring three other measures to the ballot.
It's "more likely that the AAA Initiative will fail if vote is split (dilutes vote)," says the presentation, which is titled "Legislative Strategies for Regulating Abortion (Amidst a Radical Ballot Initiative and Court Chaos.)"
Linley Wilson, the state House's general counsel, emailed the presentation to lawmakers and others Monday, then recalled it. House spokesman Andrew Wilder said the email was sent accidentally.
"I've publicly stated that we are looking at options to address this subject, and this is simply part of that," said House Speaker Ben Toma. "It was unfortunate that this was accidentally distributed outside of the caucus; the phrasing would have been different as would what is highlighted as part of the proposal."
Calli Jones, a spokeswoman for Senate Democrats, said the leaked presentation appears to reveal what has been the Republicans' plan all along: to try and foil the ballot initiative. She also questioned how serious the document is, since it closes with a meme of Seth Myers saying, "Boom. Easy as that."
Senate President Warren Petersen said he hasn't discussed the plan yet with fellow Republican senators.
Both GOP leaders told The Arizona Republic last week that potential ballot measures were under discussion that would limit abortions or put restrictions on the procedure to offer alternatives to the abortion measure, which they consider too permissive.
"My idea was to give people a chance to also vote for life," Petersen said.
The anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy is conducting a legal analysis of the GOP proposal, said the group's president, Cathi Herrod, who added the center has "no position yet" on it.
Plan aims to thwart support for abortion measure
Abortion rights supporters backing the Arizona for Abortion Access initiative said earlier this month they've gathered more than 500,000 signatures for the measure already, well above the 383,000 needed by July to qualify for the ballot. They aim to gather 800,000 signatures to withstand legal challenges.
Last week's court ruling sparked even more interest in the measure, which would create a "fundamental right" to obtain an abortion anytime before viability — the point at which a fetus would have a significant chance of surviving outside the womb. Fetal viability is typically at about 23 or 24 weeks of gestation.
The act, as submitted to the state, would also prevent the state from enacting, adopting or enforcing any law that denies, restricts or interferes with an abortion that, "in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual."
The leaked plan focuses on measures Republicans could refer to the ballot with simply majority votes and no signature necessary by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
The first measure would allegedly "compliment" the Abortion Access initiative by limiting it, giving voters "something other than the extreme abortion-on-demand" initiative. Most importantly, the presentation states, the additional measure envisioned by Republicans would protect the Legislature's "authority to 'enact laws rationally related to promoting and preserving life and to protecting the health and safety of pregnant women.'"
Republicans could choose a "short title" for the measure like "Protecting Pregnant Women and Safe Abortions Act," Wilson suggested in the presentation.
That's "Phase One." It could be implemented with or without the second phase, which would be to "send voters two other options that conflict with AAA initiative."
The presentation suggests two referrals, the "15-week Reproductive Care and Abortion Act" and the "Heartbeat Protection Act," both of which allow abortions to save a mother's life.
The "15-week" proposal would only allow abortions legally for 14 weeks, the document explains, because it disallows abortions at the beginning of the 15th week of pregnancy.
The "heartbeat" referral measure would disallow abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, but unlike the 15-week proposal, it allows an exception for rape and incest cases.
If legislators approve a ballot measure and transmit it to the Secretary of State's Office before the Abortion Access group files its signatures, voters would see the Republicans' offering "first on the ballot," the document states.
The overall plan "puts Democrats in a defensive position to argue against partial birth abortions, discriminatory abortions, and other basic protections," it says.
Measures face possible GOP pushback
Political strategist Chuck Coughlin pointed to polling in the wake of the 2022 primary election that showed Arizonans don’t want lawmakers making policies that affect abortion rights.
The poll found 62% of likely voters believe that reproductive rights should be protected, and that the government should not interfere in decisions between a woman and her doctor.
Coughlin said attempts to confuse voters or dilute the impact of the Arizona for Abortion Access initiative will not make a major dent in support for the initiative, given those findings.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily confusing to people,” he said. "The initiative has emerged as the leading message on abortion rights. Initiative supporters may have to run a campaign to reinforce the perception."
As for competing referrals passing the Legislature, he is doubtful, given the split views on how strict abortion controls should be.
“How are you going to get that past the Freedom Caucus?” he asked. That group of conservative Republicans have applauded the court’s decision and said they don’t see a need to loosen restrictions.
Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.
Reporter Stacey Barchenger contributed to this article
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona abortion: Republicans seek to undercut ballot measure
