The Quickie: GOP Debating On How To Take Away Our Rights

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: GOP presidential candidates spar over abortion bans, PP corrects a deceptive op-ed from Susan B. Anthony List, and Arizona’s pre-Roe ban goes before the state Supreme Court.

GOP DEBATING ON HOW TO TAKE AWAY OUR RIGHTS: Last night was… a lot. We saw the GOP presidential candidates argue about how, when, and where to control our bodies and our ability to make our own health care decisions. And they used misinformation to spread their dangerous and false narratives. Planned Parenthood Votes set the record straight on their anti-abortion agendas and was fact checking on @PPact in real time. 

“Voters know that every GOP candidate running for president would sign a national abortion ban if given the opportunity,” said Shwetika Baijal, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes. “Some, like Mike Pence, are proudly boasting about their plan to ban abortion nationwide. Because they know banning abortion is unpopular, others are trying to hide their true agenda and downplay their goals to restrict access to abortion however they can. Despite their desperate attempts tonight, we know their records and we know the truth.

Voters in Wisconsin were also seeing the Planned Parenthood Votes’ first ad of the 2024 cycle. Read more about that here. 
 

VOTERS WON’T BE FOOLED BY EFFORTS FROM ANTI-ABORTION POLITICIANS AND GROUPS TO MISLEAD THEM: Ahead of last night’s pathetic excuse for a debate, the leader of Susan B. Anthony List, a radical anti-abortion group, published an op-ed instructing candidates on the “mistakes they must avoid on abortion if they want to win” — despite the fact that they have been consistently losing. They know full well that the only way to keep in power the people who will continue to do their bidding is through deception, to mislead the public and skirt accountability for their deeply unpopular views on abortion. Let’s be serious. 

• Anti-abortion groups and politicians are woefully out of touch with voters — and they know it. Desperate to scrounge up support and votes to pass a national abortion ban, they have made it their strategy to mislead the public about their real views. By more than a 2-to-1 margin, voters are more inclined to leave abortion care decisions up to patients and their doctors (63%), rather than enact 15-week bans (26%). 
• In fact, the more emboldened anti-abortion groups and politicians become to attack our rights, the more motivated voters become to ensure they don’t have the power to do so. Nearly a third of Americans say the issue of abortion has made them more likely to vote in the 2024 presidential election, especially people under 30, Black Americans, and Democrats.
• Despite voters consistently telling them that they support protecting access to abortion, anti-abortion groups and politicians would rather force a public health crisis than own up to the harm they’ve caused with their positions, misleading rhetoric, and policies. Nearly three in four adults say these bans make it more difficult for doctors to safely take care of pregnant people who experience major complications. Two-thirds of the public are concerned that bans on abortion may lead to unnecessary health problems, including 7 in 10 independents and nearly half of Republicans.

No matter what kind of tricks they have up their sleeves, support for protecting reproductive freedom remains at an all time high. We will not be fooled — and neither will voters. 

Read our full response here. 
 

ARIZONA PRE-ROE ABORTION BAN TO GO BEFORE STATE SUPREME COURT: On Wednesday, the Arizona State Supreme Court decided that it will reconsider consider a petition for review in Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Mayes, which relates to the status of Arizona’s abortion laws and whether prosecutors can enforce the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban against abortion providers. 

Last December, the Arizona Court of Appeals held that all of Arizona’s abortion laws must be harmonized, and that abortion is legal through 15 weeks when provided by licensed physicians in compliance with Arizona’s other laws and regulations. The case was brought to the Arizona Supreme Court by a doctor at an anti-abortion clinic, Eric Hazelrigg, with the Yavapai County Attorney joining as an intervenor.

In a statement, Kelley Dupps, Planned Parenthood Arizona senior director of public policy and government relations, reminded Arizonans that there is an opportunity for them to protect abortion access: 

“We will not stop fighting for our patients at the courthouse and beyond. We recognize this case will not be the last attempt by anti-abortion activists to roll back rights. Arizonans deserve the freedom to make their own decisions about their reproductive health, and it is time to secure the right to an abortion in the Arizona Constitution. The recently announced Arizona Abortion Access Act ballot initiative will be a crucial first step in securing a future with better reproductive health care for all Arizonans.”

Read more from the Arizona Mirror.