A look at the abortion battle in Arizona: one family’s story

PHOENIX — Kristin and Dave Gambardella never expected the journey of growing their family to include an abortion procedure, but in the summer of 2023, the couple still found themselves in a Planned Parenthood parking lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a seven-hour drive from their home in Tucson, Ariz.

A week beforehand, a routine blood test at Kristin’s 17-week pregnancy had yielded devastating results. A follow-up ultrasound confirmed her doctors’ fears. The fetus had a serious genetic abnormality.

“They told us it was really a guaranteed short life, full of pain, surgeries and constant medical care,” Gambardella said. “Dave is a stoic person,” she said of her husband, “and I remember him just breaking down and losing. And then I really felt that feeling in my stomach that was like, wow, this is pretty catastrophic.”

When they decided to terminate the pregnancy, the Gambardellas realized they not only had to make a painful decision for their family; they also had to deal with an Arizona law that prevented them from going to their own doctors for the procedure.

“I remember the doctor looked at me and her eyes looked very sad. And she said, ‘No, you can’t come here. We can’t do that procedure for you. You would have to leave the room.’ state,” Gambardella said.

Arizona’s abortion ban

Arizona—one of 21 states to pass abortion restrictions since the end of Roe v Wade—bans abortion after 15 weeks, except in cases of medical emergencies that endanger the life of the mother. Gambardella did not qualify for that exception.

“As someone who has always believed in a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, this was a turning point in my understanding of the extent to which abortion care is connected to fertility care and the desire to have a baby.” said Gambardella.

The experience inspired her to join the campaign to pass Proposition 139, a ballot measure that would anchor the right to abortion in the Arizona state constitution to the viability of the fetus.

Arizona is one of 10 states in the country with such measures on the agenda in November, including Florida, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana and Nebraska.

This major national push comes as access to abortion remains one of the most important issues for voters this election — and the top issue for women under 30, according to an October survey by KFF, the nonpartisan health care policy organization.

Where the candidates stand

Democrats hope the issue will enthuse Vice President Kamala Harris, who has focused her campaign on restoring reproductive rights and attacking former President Donald Trump over the appointment of the conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to Overturning Roe v. Wade.

Trump, who has repeatedly shifted his position on abortion from supporting a federal ban to declaring that he would not adopt one while remaining open to other restrictions on reproductive health care, claims that he “women will protect’, but is sparing with details.

However, it is not clear whether ballot measures on abortion access will change the outcome of the presidential race in a swing state like Arizona. Voters could split the choice by voting to enshrine abortion access but prioritize other issues in their presidential choice.

Trump leads Harris in Arizona by two points 538’s latest poll averageeven as polls so far show Arizona’s abortion access amendment to be highly popular, with about 60% of likely voters saying they will support it.

That level of support matches the success of abortion rights ballot measures in other states in the past two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Every time there has been a vote, reproductive rights ballot measures have passed, whether the state leans Republican, Democratic or is narrowly divided like Arizona.

Susan Ashley, a retiree and volunteer for Arizona Abortion Access campaign, says her “anger” over the overturning of Roe vs. Wade pushed her to make the initiative her “full-time job right now.”

“I’ve been an active voter, but I’ve never been involved in an event where there were so many passionate volunteers, and so this struck a chord,” Ashley said.

On-site efforts

Athena Salman, former Arizona state representative and director of Arizona Campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All, was at Ashley’s side when she knocked on the door in mid-October in the 90-degree heat.

The two women spoke to nearly a dozen registered independents in a neighborhood of Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. Every voter they spoke to said they supported the ballot measure.

“I think this really shows that Arizonans are just fed up with their reproductive freedom being up in the air and that they are willing to take action and take government interference out of our personal decisions,” Salman said .

Although Arizona currently bans abortion after 15 weeks, the state saw a halt to all abortions for four months in the summer of 2022 when an 1864 ban was revived. It was almost reinstated in the spring of 2024, but the Arizona state legislature repealed it after massive outcry from residents and a push from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes.

According to Cindy Dahlgren, spokesperson for the campaign against the abortion access ballot measure, lawmakers’ decision to repeal the near-total abortion ban and maintain a 15-week ban should put people at ease.

“Proponents are playing on those fears and that confusion by saying there is a ban when there is no ban,” she said, arguing that the current law only shortens the process but does not ban it completely. “I would also like to point out that it was the Legislature that repealed that law. And there seems to be no interest in reintroducing that law.’

Her campaign, called “It Goes Too Far,” argues that enshrining abortion access until fetal viability would remove too many restrictions around abortion, creating too much unregulated abortion.

“The choice in November is not actually between abortion or no abortion. It is between limited abortion and safety measures and an involved doctor and parents, or unlimited and unregulated abortion,” Dahlgren said.

Asked about cases like Gambardella’s, where pregnancy complications occur in the second trimester, or women who experience rape or incest and don’t qualify for an exception, Dahlgren said: “We don’t need to introduce a very extreme abortion amendment to protect those victims.” can take care of. .”

But Dr. Misha Pangasa, a gynecologist at Planned Parenthood, one of only nine clinics in Arizona that provides abortion care, said she no longer wants to leave reproductive rights to the political makeup of the state legislature.

“The idea that health care in Arizona is dependent on the whims of whichever legislature has the majority will never be the best way for people to get the best care,” Pangasa said.

There are currently approximately 40 laws restricting abortions in the state of Arizona, which Pangasa says has already had a significant impact on its ability to provide care to pregnant patients.

“Pregnancy is complicated and decisions at different stages are difficult. And I am the one who helps support them. And what I wish our government would do is just allow me to do that,” Pangasa said.

Pangasa said she regularly sees patients like the Gambardellas.

“Honestly, it’s a very heartbreaking moment when I talk to my patients and say, if you were in a different condition than me right now, I would tell you these are your options. But because we are in Arizona, an abortion is simply not an option,” she said.