On Dobbs anniversary Hobbs warns of her GOP opponents’ past abortion ban support

In the run-up to decide who will lead the Grand Canyon State for the next four years, Gov. Katie Hobbs is looking to keep her Republican opponents in the political hot seat over their abortion stances. 

“Every chance I have during this election, I’m going to be focused on my opponents’ record of supporting the cost-hiking agenda of Washington (and) of supporting a nationwide abortion ban,” she said, shortly after leading a roundtable discussion with local doctors and advocates on the state’s reproductive healthcare landscape. 

U.S. Congressmen Andy Biggs and David Schweikert are vying for the chance to challenge Hobbs in the fall. Both have a track record of opposing abortion and supporting legislation that could lead to a nationwide ban. Biggs and Schweikert each celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional protection for abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Clinic four years ago and both have co-sponsored federal legislation that would bestow personhood at conception, which critics warn would outlaw all abortions. 

Arizona voters’ overwhelming support for Prop. 139 two years ago, which made the procedure a fundamental right in the state, didn’t deter Biggs from continuing to push for a nationwide ban, either; he co-sponsored the most recent iteration of the legislation last year on the same day it was introduced. Schweikert didn’t back that version of the bill, but he did co-sponsor six previous iterations. 

Sitting between reproductive rights advocates and local doctors at the McKinley Club in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday morning, Hobbs warned that failing to re-elect her could mean new and more successful attacks on abortion care. 

“The reality can be really different with a different governor in office,” she said. “I’m committed to continuing the fight to protect what we fought for and won.” 

The Democrat ran on a campaign promise to defend access to abortion care and she’s spent her first term in office focused on that goal, issuing an executive order that prevented county attorneys from prosecuting patients or doctors over abortion care and vetoing dozens of bills from the Republican-majority state legislature that sought to restrict the procedure. On Wednesday, Hobbs highlighted those efforts and other actions taken to expand access to reproductive healthcare, including ensuring a law passed during her predecessor’s leadership which had been held up for two years that made birth control available at pharmacies without the need for a prescription, as proof that she’s the best candidate to oversee Arizona. 

Doctors lauded the progress made to keep abortion care accessible and said they worried that electing Biggs or Schweikert could mean their patients would again be forced to deal with unnecessary barriers. In February, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge struck down multiple laws that doctors have long said were intended to make it more burdensome to obtain an abortion, including ones requiring a 24-hour waiting period, an ultrasound and the recitation of state-mandated information before the procedure could be performed. Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick, the owner of Camelback Family Planning, an abortion clinic in Phoenix, said those changes helped streamline the process for her patients but said several onerous requirements remain, including a state law that forces doctors to ask patients why they’re seeking an abortion. Goodrick said she fears handing the state over to an anti-abortion candidate would only result in more restrictions, which she criticized as politicians meddling in the private healthcare choices of Arizonans. 

“There’s no more personal decision that they could make and the government should not have any say in their decisions,” she said. 

Athena Salman, the director of the Arizona branch of Reproductive Freedom for All, said all the gains made during Hobbs’ tenure could be reversed under Biggs or Schweikert. And while voters might believe that the legality of abortion is a settled matter after the passage of Prop. 139, Salman warned that letting Republicans win back the state’s leadership positions would only reinvigorate efforts to undermine the abortion rights amendment. Hobbs pointed out that while the anti-abortion bills she vetoed would have invited legal challenges if they had been approved by a Republican governor, the process would have been costly for taxpayers and lengthy, leaving doctors and patients in legal uncertainty. 

“Voters can’t be complacent,” Salman said. “If they want to continue to enjoy reproductive freedom, which is integrally linked to your economic freedom, then you need to reelect Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and we need to flip the legislature.”

Reproductive rights groups have tried to use concern over abortion access to mobilize voters and change party control at the state legislature since the constitutional right to the procedure was toppled four years ago. But that has proven a difficult sell. In 2024, when the abortion rights amendment was on the ballot and advocates were confident they could sweep the elections, Republicans instead increased their hold at the state legislature. Advocates are hopeful that this year’s election will yield results. On Wednesday, the fourth anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Reproductive Freedom for All announced a $23.5 million voter education campaign dubbed “My Body. My Ballot.” Salman said she’s unsure how much of the money is destined for Arizona, but said she expects it will be invested in digital ads and voter outreach.

Another reason reproductive rights advocates hope voters reelect Hobbs and shakeup the legislature is to move forward on the effort to enshrine access to contraception in state law.  Hobbs and Democrats at the state legislature have pushed to do just that for three years, with no success. Republican lawmakers have consistently refused to advance their legislative proposals and blocked attempts by Democrats to force consideration of the bills. Yet despite the likelihood that effort will remain stagnant in a GOP-majority legislature and the longshot nature of flipping the legislature, Salman said there’s currently no plan to send the question to voters, instead. Pushing a ballot initiative is a time and cost intensive effort, she pointed out, and there are more laws on the books that chip away at reproductive healthcare than can be addressed in a single ballot measure. 

“For us the greatest investment and the quickest way to action that Arizonans can take is reelecting this governor and flipping the state legislature,” she said. “That is the best pathway and most realistic pathway to securing broader reproductive freedoms beyond abortion care.”