3 bills abortion advocates say would limit AZ reproductive rights advance in House

An Arizona House committee approved three bills this past week that opponents say will restrict reproductive rights.

One measure would make the death of a fetus during a felony first-degree murder. The others would include fetuses in child support laws and impose reporting requirements for witnesses of illegal abortion procedures.

Jodi Liggett, a lobbyist for the Arizona Chapter of Reproductive Freedom For All, testified against the bills at the committee hearing.

"We're concerned about the expansion of so-called personhood laws. They have wide-reaching effects and in a larger context have been used to ban contraception, fertility care, in vitro fertilization, stem cell research," Liggett said.

The bills still need full House approval before going to the Senate.

Proponents of each measure argued that Arizona law needs to be updated.

The first bill, HB 2043, deals with an existing "felony murder'" law that says if someone is killed during the commission of certain felonies, the person convicted of that crime has to be sentenced either to death or to life behind bars.

Rep. Selina Bliss said current homicide laws already include unborn children as possible victims. The Prescott lawmaker said this is designed to close a loophole.

Pamela Hicks, a lawyer with Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, questioned the need for the bill. She said the existing felony murder law already says if a victim is younger than 15, there is a mandatory 35-year sentence.

"So 'unborn child' is a victim," Hicks said.

But Christy Kelly, speaking on behalf of Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller, said the fact that the law does not specifically include the death of an unborn child is a "profound gap'' in the current statute.

"We must amend to recognize the right to life from the moment of conception and extend unbreakable protection to our most vulnerable victims, the unborn,'' she said. And Kelly said that is an acknowledgment that "science and faith alike affirm" that definition.

Rep. Alma Hernandez said all that ignores what is in Proposition 139, approved at the ballot in 2024, which provides a constitutional right to abortion prior to fetal viability.

"I believe that the voters were very clear in Arizona that we were protecting women's rights,'' said the Tucson Democrat. Hernandez also said that, as worded, it is overly broad.

Current law says when a judge awards child support payments they are backdated to when a lawsuit over divorce, maintenance or child support is filed.

HB 2144 from Rep. Justin Olson would require that to go back even farther, to the date of a positive pregnancy test confirmed by a licensed health care provider. And it would cover the direct medical and pregnancy-related expenses of the mother "if the child is a preborn child."

"This is an important bill to recognize the fact that if there's going to be child support proceedings that the mother should be entitled to the child support for a child that she's carrying, just like she would for any other child that she has with the ex-spouse,'' said the Mesa Republican. Olson said there are similar laws in other states.

Here, too, Liggett had objections over the wording.

"We are concerned about the consequences of fetal personhood," she said. "Defining 'preborn child' and attaching enforceable child support obligations moves Arizona further to conferring person-like status to embryos and fetuses."

Rep. Lupe Diaz said he supports the proposal.

"I'm pro-life, and so is God,'' said the Benson Republican. "Just because people say that something is right doesn't mean it's morally permissible, especially in the eyes of God.''

But Rep. Brian Garcia said the legislation relies on "dangerous fetal personhood ideology."

"There are ways that the state can ensure that pregnant people have the financial support that they need for a healthy pregnancy," said the Tempe Democrat. "Child support is not the proper mechanism to address this issue."

HB 2074 takes on what has been referred to as "partial-birth abortion," defined as when a fetus is partially outside the body and it is "deliberately and intentionally'' killed. It already is a felony.

The legislation would provide similar penalties for anyone who has direct knowledge of such an event and fails to immediately report that to the county attorney.

Just days after the committee vote, Reproductive Freedom for All — the group whose lobbyist testified against all three bills — endorsed Gov. Katie Hobbs in her bid for reelection.

"No governor in Arizona history has done more to defend reproductive freedom than Gov. Hobbs,'' Athena Salman, the organization's Arizona director, said in a prepared statement.

And the governor herself, in comments at the campaign event to announce the endorsement, said her reelection is important to ensure there is a "backstop when those extreme legislators pass legislation to restrict abortion care and access.''