Don't interfere in our decisions

Opinion: Arizona voters have already sent a strong message to abortion advocates: We see through your fear tactics.

Candice Lew
| opinion contributor

This week, a historic event was written in Arizona.

More than 800,000 Arizona voters have spoken: We want the opportunity to support Arizona’s abortion access law. We proved it by submitting the largest number of voter signatures ever collected by a citizen initiative in state history.

More than 7,000 volunteers and an army of Arizona activists collected signatures from voters in all 15 counties, from independents, Democrats and Republicans, from 18-year-olds to 100-year-olds, from men and women, in our cities and rural communities.

Everywhere we went, voters clamored to support restoring and protecting abortion rights by enshrining this fundamental freedom in our state constitution.

Voters know that without this, extremist politicians and special interests will never stop playing games with our lives.

Lawmakers Won’t Stop Limiting Access to Abortion

Over the past decade, Arizona anti-abortion extremists have passed more than 30 laws restricting women’s access to reproductive health care and imposing exam room policies that have no basis in medical science.

Last year, anti-abortion extremists argued before the Arizona Supreme Court to reinstate a total ban on abortion, a law written in 1864, when Arizona was not yet a state, slavery was legal and American women could not vote.

Last April, in a decision that sent shockwaves across the country, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the sweeping, barbaric ban, and the legislature went on to narrowly repeal it after weeks of infighting.

That’s why we know they will never stop trying to limit our access to reproductive health care and abortion – unless we pass the Arizona Abortion Access Act.

The 823,685 signatures send a loud and clear message: Arizonans want politicians and judges to stay out of their private, personal health care decisions. These signatures send a clear message: Arizonans know that abortion is health care and that current state law strips all of us of our bodily autonomy and personal freedoms.

Additionally, political maneuvering and constant reversals have harmed patients and restricted health care providers, creating a chilling effect on reproductive care across Arizona.

Doctors Cut Care, Leaving Arizona Behind

Under the current extreme and unscientific abortion ban, doctors are forced to deny proper medical care to patients who are survivors of rape, incest, or human trafficking.

Under current law, we cannot provide basic care to patients experiencing pregnancy-related complications or medical emergencies.

Current law places women who desperately want to become pregnant in unnecessarily dangerous situations by obscuring what health care providers can legally do to help them.

The GOP Miscalculated on Abortion: And voters were not amused.

Doctors are tired of worrying about jail time, fines or loss of their licenses that could punish them for providing basic, evidence-based care.

My colleagues and I all know doctors who have closed parts of their practices or left the state rather than provide substandard care, and new doctors are choosing not to practice here because of Arizona’s reputation for denying medical realities.

Anti-abortion extremists have been peddling lies for decades. They distort science and deny medical facts; they cite hyperbolic scenarios that never happened to scare voters. Our opposition is lying too, claiming that the measure makes changes that are nowhere in the text.

Reject their fear tactics, send a message

As an obstetrician-gynecologist for 40 years, let me be clear: Arizona’s abortion access law maintains all medical safeguards, certification and licensing requirements, and perpetuates the patient safety standards currently in place.

Claims to the contrary are lies intended to scare and manipulate voters.

They are an insult to nurses, doctors and health care professionals who are trained, licensed and experienced in this field, and who overwhelmingly support this measure precisely because we put patient safety and well-being first.

This November, voters will have a chance to send a resounding message: Never again will politicians have as much control over our personal medical decisions as we do.

We are taking back our freedom to determine our own future — and we do it by keeping the government out of our private health care decisions.

Dr. Candace Lew is an OB-GYN who has practiced medicine for nearly 40 years around the world. She is the Chair of the Arizona Abortion Access Act Campaign Committee. Share your thoughts at [email protected].