On a party-line vote, the Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation that would ban physicians from performing abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, with some exceptions.
For some pregnancies, that can be as early as six weeks and before a woman knows she is pregnant.
Sen. Lisa Otondo (D-Yuma), who voted no, says opposing HB 2140 doesn’t mean she’s pro-abortion.
“It’s about having access to safe and legal abortions because the opposite of that is back alley slaughterhouses," Otondo said.
Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa) defended the bill that would make this type of an abortion a felony.
"It is the job of the legislature to criminalize a medical procedure that society decides is something that needs to be criminalized, so we'll find our pathway to get there," Townsend said.
The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to clarify that the bill makes an exception in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
