Doctors call on Arizonans to vote yes on Prop. 139

With less than two weeks left before Arizonans decide the fate of a ballot measure that seeks to establish abortion access as a fundamental right, health providers urged voters to support it.

“Prop. 139 guarantees the right to abortion and puts health care decisions where they belong: with patients, their families, and their health care providers who are highly, highly trained to provide reproductive health care,” said Dr. Laura Mercer, during a virtual roundtable on Tuesday hosted by the Committee to Protect Health Care.

The Committee is a progressive national organization made up of more than 20,000 doctors and advocates that has been a strong proponent of abortion rights this election cycle, particularly in Arizona, where the future of the procedure in the state will be decided in November. Over the summer, the group released a letter signed by 550 Arizona-based medical professionals in support of Proposition 139, dubbed the “Arizona Abortion Access Act”.

The measure would enshrine abortion as a right in the state constitution. If passed, the Grand Canyon State’s current 15-week gestational ban would be struck down. Instead, providers could perform a procedure without the looming threat of a class 6 felony until fetal viability, generally regarded to occur between 23 and 24 weeks — and beyond that point if they determine it’s necessary to preserve the patient’s life, physical or mental health.



https://azmirror.com/2024/10/23/doctors-call-on-arizonans-to-vote-yes-on-prop-139/