This past Tuesday, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs added her signature to a petition for a statewide ballot initiative that would enshrine the right to an abortion in the Arizona Constitution. States across the country are fighting for reproductive rights – in part because Kyrsten Sinema stood in the way of federal protections.
After Trump stacked the Supreme Court with right-wing judges who then overturned Roe v. Wade, Sinema joined Republicans in preserving the Senate filibuster instead of codifying abortion rights. Sinema’s actions directly obstructed passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a measure introduced by Democrats to enshrine abortion rights into law. As a result of Sinema’s actions, groups like NARAL, Emily’s List, and Planned Parenthood rescinded their endorsements. As The 19th reported, should Sinema run next year, she’d be running without the backing of any abortion rights organizations.
Sinema’s voting record also includes confirmations for over 100 of Donald Trump’s judges, including some with extreme records on abortion rights.
More recently, while trying to insert herself into the battle between Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville and the Pentagon over abortion policy, Sinema again angered abortion rights proponents as well as female veterans in Arizona by saying that the Biden administration should find “middle ground” with the staunchly anti-abortion Tuberville and by speaking in favor of “the authority and the right of any United States senator” to obstruct military promotions. This has resulted in a months-long, crippling delay of leadership within the Pentagon, at a time when U.S. military expertise is needed abroad in places like Israel and Ukraine.
Sinema’s Democratic challenger, Rep. Ruben Gallego, has publicly stated he will vote to end the filibuster and enshrine abortion rights into law.
“Actions speak louder than words, and for two years Kyrsten Sinema voted to confirm Trump’s extreme, anti-choice nominees to the federal bench. Then, when President Biden was elected, she stood in the way of codifying Roe v. Wade. Arizona wouldn’t be in this position if not for Sinema’s obstruction at the behest of Republicans,” said Sacha Haworth, spokesperson for the Replace Sinema PAC. “Until she gives up protecting an arcane relic of the Senate, Sinema has no right to call herself a champion of women’s reproductive rights.”
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