Q: When is it okay for AZ Dem lawmakers to sign an anti-Roe v Wade pledge?

A: Never.

Yet two Democrats in the AZ House did just that.

Text of the proclamation:

“Whereas, on January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton that states may not enforce laws prohibiting abortion; and

Whereas, in the forty years since those decisions, the lives of over fifty million preborn children have been terminated; and

Whereas, many mothers have been physically and psychologically harmed by abortion; and

Whereas, women have faced dangerous conditions and substandard medical care in abortion clinics across the country, including at least one Arizona clinic where a woman needlessly lost her life after a botched abortion; and

Whereas, countless women and men live with the emotional scars of the tragic and painful choice to have an abortion; and

Whereas, no right to abortion is rooted in the traditions of the American people and no national right to abortion is conferred by the Constitution of the United States; and

Whereas, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton have no basis in the text or history of the Constitution of the United States; and

Whereas, human life founded on inherent and inalienable rights is entitled to the full protection of law and due process and the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion decisions have failed to protect the lives of preborn children.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Arizona:

1. That the Members of the House of Representatives and Senate express their sorrow at the loss of life and the physical and psychological harm caused by forty years of legalized abortion.

2. That the Members of the House of Representatives and Senate shall make every effort to secure for preborn children at every stage of development all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to persons, citizens, and residents of this State, until the decisional interpretations of the United States Constitution by the United States Supreme Court provide protection for every human being.

3. That the Members of the House of Representatives and Senate shall make the health and safety of women in this State a priority by requiring that abortion providers meet standards that protect women from unsanitary facilities and unsafe practices.”

I’m often admonished that the Democrats are a “big tent” and told that it’s not fair to disparage “pro-life” Democrats on account of they come by their views honestly and earnestly. Okay, I’ll buy that some Democrats think abortion is taking a human life and, therefore, immoral. But Democrats are supposed to be more thoughtful and rational – the grownups in the room, so to speak. How, then, should Democrats in elected office (or aspiring to such) treat the subject of abortion?

1. Join with the Republicans and vote to criminalize doctors and women, redefine rape, deny rape and incest victims emergency contraception and abortion care, deny insurance coverage for abortion, etc.

Or:

2. Advocate for comprehensive sex ed, contraception access, and a strong social safety net, while leaving women and their doctors to make their own decisions.

Democrats who support the latter and not the former I’ll call pro-life and welcome into the tent. Dems who are for the former and in league with the freaking Center for Arizona Policy? They’re just anti-choice and need to be primaried.

Comments

[Steve Meissner]

I'm passionately pro-choice, but one of the greatest Democrats ever to serve in the Arizona House was Art Hamilton - who was pro-choice.

[Steve Meissner]

Whoops, sorry. Art was pro-life. I agreed with him on just about everything else, and would vote for him in a heartbeat - for anything - if I ever got the chance.

[Donna Gratehouse]

I like Art Hamilton too but if he were still in the lege and signed CENTER FOR ARIZONA POLICY pledge against Roe v Wade I'd say primary him too.

[Bill Astle]

So who are they?

[Donna Gratehouse]

Lupe Contreras and Lydia Hernandez.

[Bob Lord]

I like the idea of a bright line test here. Yes, progressive D's should not tolerate this.

But shouldn't there be other bright line tests? When a Congressional rep is in the hip pocket of the oil industry or the banking industry, shouldn't D's also have a zero tolerance policy?

[Donna Gratehouse]

I can certainly see other things that would/should be a bright red line for Democrats. Climate change denial, for example. I just think the pro-choicers have made the case (or you could say that the anti-choicers have made it obvious) that the attacks on women's basic bodily rights have gotten so vicious and so personal that it is impossible to deny that the anti-choice movement is based on anything other than misogyny and control. Also, when think about every kind of environmental, economic, and social injustice taking place right now, there are none that will not be made exponentially worse by adding millions of unplanned babies to them.

[Donna Gratehouse]

Additionally, at least Dems who take oil money can argue that they need it to win elections. Not saying it's right but at least there's some truth to it. It's not that hard to not sign a Center for Arizona Policy pledge.

[Boo Radley]

Unless, you know, you have a conscience that agrees with the pledge.

[Bess1919]

Why would they sign a document of lies?

1. That the Members of the House of Representatives and Senate express their sorrow at the loss of life and the physical and psychological harm caused by forty years of legalized abortion.

Prove the psychological harm to women....or is the harm to them, because of their ideological beliefs.

2...That the Members of the House of Representatives and Senate shall make every effort to secure for preborn children at every stage of development all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to persons,

A fetus is not a person.

3. That the Members of the House of Representatives and Senate shall make the health and safety of women in this State a priority by requiring that abortion providers meet standards that protect women from unsanitary facilities and unsafe practices.”

They left out the part that by meeting standards, they want to make so many regulations, that women will be unable to exercise their right to an abortion.

I'm OK with a Democrat who doesn't believe in abortion for themself, but they should not sign a pledge that is filled with lies.
Primary them.